British musicians were celebrating a major victory last night after a powerful European Parliament committee gave the go-ahead to extend the copyright term for music recordings to 95 years.

Performing artists currently only receive royalties for fifty years after their song was released, meaning that musicians such as Sir Cliff Richard, who released hits in the late 1950s, are beginning to see their royalty cheques stop.

But yesterday the parliament’s influential Legal Affairs Committee approved legislation to extend the term, paving the way for the proposal to be signed into European law after a vote in a plenary session of the parliament next month.

Song writers already receive royalties for their lifetime, with royalties paid to their estate for 70 years after their death. If the current fifty year term for performers was allowed to stand, the Beatles’ back catalogue would begin to fall out of copyright after 2012.

Sir Cliff, who relied on other songwriters to pen his early hits, saw his first single fall out of copyright last year. His number one hit Living Doll, released in 1959, is also set to slip outside the fifty year term in July.

Sir Cliff, who had campaigned for the term to be extended, told The Times: “The wheels have turned slowly but I’m so glad that at last the balance is restored and artists and their dependants will have the security of 95 years of copyright income.

“Of course I’m pleased for myself, but the relief will be huge for those performers whose pension is largely made up of royalties from perhaps just two or three recordings in the fifties or sixties. Well done and thanks to the lawmakers for a good and just decision.”

The British government had previously opposed any increase in the term, after a 2006 review by Andrew Gowers, the former Financial Times editor, advised against the move.

But Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, announced a U-turn in December, when he told a conference of music industry leaders that he thought there was a “moral case” for performers to have the term extended.

Mr Burnham, who said he favoured extending the copyright term to 70 years, said: “There is a moral case for performers benefiting from their work throughout their entire lifetime. An extension to match more closely a performer's expected lifetime, perhaps something like 70 years, for example, given that most people make their best work in their 20s and 30s.”

The legislation will now go to a meeting of the parliament on March 11, as well as the Council of Ministers. There may be further horse-trading on the proposal before it is finally signed into law, given that the UK and other countries had suggested a term shorter than 95 years.

But David Lammy, the intellectual property minister, told The Times that the UK’s 70-year position was a “starting point” for negotiation, suggesting that it would not fight its corner too hard. In the US, the copyright term for sound recordings was extended in 1998 to 95 years from release.

UK Music, an umbrella organisation representing the British music industry, said in a statement: "In recommending that the current term of copyright protection for sound recordings is extended to 95 years, the Committee has recognised the value of music and the importance of the work of artists, musicians and entrepreneurs, both now and in the future, and that parity with other creators is fair and just."

The IFPI, the international body representing the record industry, said the committee’s decision "shows that parliamentarians recognise the need to cherish and promote European culture”.

It added: “Europe is a source of some of the most exciting and innovative music in the world and this initiative will end the discrimination in the term of protection for sound recordings in EU member states compared to many other countries around the world."

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