Still Fresh 50 Years On

Pat Halling, performing legend played live in the Houses of Parliament to help bring about Copyright Term Extension.

Hearing the violin part brought it all to life once more. I was in a beautiful panelled room in the Houses of Parliament listening to a living legend. Pat Halling was playing songs he recorded nearly fifty years ago in Abbey Road Studios.

The moment was made all the more poignant when he pointed out that his royalties on ‘All You Need Is Love’, ‘Downtown’ and hundreds of others would soon stop, even though those recordings are still played all over the world.

Pat also blew the myth that musicians are all rich and famous. In fact, most earn surprisingly little for their work so the royalties that flow from a successful track are even more important.

That was the message to Minister, David Lammy, from Pat and the other musicians at the event. Some had travelled up to 100 miles, through the worst snow in twenty years, just to urge the government to give performers their whole-hearted support on copyright term. Musicians want a fair copyright term – fair relative to other creators – fair relative to our fellow performers in the USA who get 95 years from release.

Pat Halling plays his legendary music at the Houses of Parliament

It’s not much to ask for a few thousand talented individuals who have helped put Britain at the top of the tree in music and the creative industries.