New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ IFPI) Plácido Domingo, the world renowned artist and chairman of IFPI, has addressed the International IP Enforcement Summit being held in London.
Domingo urged governments not to allow copyright to be eroded in the digital age and highlighted the importance of intellectual property enforcement for protection of creators and culture.
He told the meeting of international IP experts that protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights "is one of the most important missions in our society and for our culture today."
Domingo added: "There is a view - mistaken in my opinion - that in the digital world copyright matters less than in the physical world. It is emphatically not so. In fact, copyright needs protecting as vigorously - if not more vigorously- on the internet."
He addressed the debate around copyright reform in the EU."Europe will this year have new Commissioners and a new Parliament. I urge them, in their review of copyright, to promote and protect copyright, not to weaken it. Please, do not allow artist and producers' rights to be eroded. Rather, look at how they can be better enforced."
Domingo stressed the need for collaboration to protect intellectual property rights in the online world. "We, in the creative world, cannot protect our rights alone. We need help from the bigger actors. The search engines, for example. When someone uses a search engine to find music, they should not be directed to illegal sources of music. This directly hurts artists and other creators."
He also called for help from governments. "Enlightened governments will understand that strong, properly-enforced intellectual property rights lead to a rich culture and economic prosperity."
The International IP Enforcement Summit is backed by the European Commission, the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) and the UK's Intellectual Property Office. The summit aims to provide an effective forum for discussion and debate on crucial international IP enforcement matters; increase engagement between national and international partners in combating counterfeiting and piracy; and support interaction and sharing of successful examples of international best practice strategies and techniques.
To see the full text of Domingo's speech click here: https://bit.ly/1n2JYh7
For a Spanish translation of the speech click here: https://bit.ly/1n2K0ps
