Brussels threatens sanctions against US

According to a recent European Commission report the US is still failing to address the need to pay a royalty fee for music broadcast in public places, such as bars, shops or restaurants. In Europe, these royalties are usually gathered by collecting societies, with royalties also being collected for US authors. The issue has been raised on different occasions by Brussels in international fora in which trade matters are discussed, in particular the World Trade Organisation. After official complaints from the EU, Washington accepted to offer financial assistance to EU artists for the period between 2002 and 2004. The arrangement expired at the end of 2004, and since then the US has not changed its relevant copyright rules, neither has it compensated EU authors with a new financial agreement. According to the report, the EU has safeguarded its rights to suspend trade benefits granted to the US if the Copyright Act is not amended.