Copyright Term extended in Europe

The recent Copyright Directive of the European Parliament and of The Council extended the term of copyright for musical compositions (with words) and phonograms (sound recordings). As per this directive the term of copyright for musical compositions shall be extended from life of the author plus 50 years after his death to life of the author plus 70 years after his death. In case the music composer and lyricist are different individuals then such 70 years will be calculated from the death of the last person among the music composer and the lyricist. With respect to phonograms the term has been extended from 50 years to 70 years to be calculated from the date of first publication or first communication to the public.
This Directive has become a subject of discussion as one of the main objectives of this Directive is- ‘welfare of performers’. In order to ensure that performers also gain advantage out of this amendment the directive provides that record label companies (phonogram producers) shall have to share 20% of their revenue derived during the 51st and the 70th year with the performers (on an annual basis). Looks like this revenue sharing may happen via a copyright society or other similar ways. Without commenting much on the impact of this amendment the initial feeler is that the record labels seem to be benefiting more than the performers. The Directive may be accessed here.