With Remberance Sunday approaching, music stars have gathered to record a moving tribute to British Armed Forces past and present.

On an extraordinary day last week, 200 people spilled into Abbey Road Studios, donating their time and talent to record an Anthem as a ‘Thank You’ to all our Military personnel who have served our country protecting our freedom.

This was the biggest ever 1 day session to be staged at Abbey Road in the history of the famous recording studios.

Multi-million selling artists from Michael Bolton, to Robin Gibb, to Haley Westenra contributed to the song, written by A1's Mark Read and The Jones Gang’s Robert Hart.  They performed alongside The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Pipes & Drums from the Army School of Bagpipe Music & Drumming, Bugles from The Academy of Music at Kneller Hall, a Choir of Celebrities and The Carmel Thomas Youth Choir.

Paul Carrack, Kenney Jones, Paul Rodgers, Lee Mead, Mark Read, Mica Paris, Natasha Hamilton,
Haley Westenra, Carol Decker, Nell Bryden and Liz McClarnon also starred.

"I never miss an opportunity to thank our troops,” said Michael Bolton, who dropped everything while rehearsing for appearances at the Royal Albert Hall this week to take part, “They are the bravest people you'll ever meet."

"We Will Remember Them itself goes back to the First World War," explains Bee Gee Robin Gibb, "but it’s very significant and it makes people stop and think just what these guys are doing for their country."

Joseph star Lee Mead said: "Two or three hours  in a recording studio on a Sunday is nothing compared to what our troops go through every day."

"I know people out there in the military, someone close to me was in Afghanistan and was blown up in his tank," says Natasha Hamilton of Atomic Kitten,  "He has been in rehabilitation for many months.  When it’s someone that you know that’s been out there fighting, it brings it home how important it is to remember through song."

All proceeds will go directly to the Royal British Legion and the Help For Heroes charity. by 
SRLV accountants and Coutts Bank.  The money will help support injured troops and families whose loved ones have paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country.

This was the biggest ever 1 day session to be staged at Abbey Road in the history of those famous recording studios.

In addition to the musicians and artists involved in the recording, a 30 man film crew with 9 cameras donated their time and have documented this auspicious occasion. A Video/DVD is in edit to support the release of the single for Sunday 8th November, Poppy Day.

Robin Gibb's opening speech

As President of CISAC it is my great pleasure, on behalf of CISAC and in the name of all creators, to welcome all of you to Washington and to the World Copyright Summit.

We meet in interesting times. The system of copyright, which has protected creators for 300 years, is facing challenges. And we are ready for that!

One criticism I keep hearing about copyright is that it acts as a barrier to creativity. Let me be clear about it, copyright is NOT a barrier to creativity. On the contrary, Copyright is an incentive to creativity.
Millions of copies of one of my co-works with my brothers - “Staying Alive” – have been made available for consumers worldwide. It is almost certain that “Staying Alive” is being played on a radio station somewhere in the world as we speak. So where do you see a barrier?

On the back of the wealth generated by “Staying Alive”, record companies have been able to invest in new acts. On the back of “Staying Alive”, collective management organisations have been able to collect for all their members – not just the successful. And, they have been able to keep creators alive!

There is much to discuss and to debate and I look forward to the conference. In the name of CISAC and CISAC creative community, I declare officially open the second World Copyright Summit. Enjoy the drinks tonight and the discussion tomorrow.

Robin Gibb's closing speech

1,500 years ago the Irish King Dermot of Tyrone uttered what is perhaps the first statement of a principle of copyright: “To every cow its calf and to every book its copy”

Things have moved on since then and this basic principle has developed over the succeeding 1,500 years, into the worldwide system of copyright we have today.

As I said in my opening words to the Summit on Monday, “copyright is facing challenges”. This has been discussed over the past two days and many interesting points have been made

We have heard from Professor Heller about the “tragedy of the anti- commons”; we all knew that we needed to improve the way in which we granted online licences – we now have a name for the problem: … “Copyright Gridlock”. A small step perhaps, but at least we have identified the problem.

In all of the discussions over the last few days, there are three points which have struck a particular chord for me. We must not lose sight of these three points if we are to preserve the value and usefulness of copyright.

First of all, we must portray copyright as the right of the individual creator and not of corporations. It is important to remember that most of the time creators are not the target of the effective propaganda directed against copyright.

Opinion polls demonstrate that most consumers are overwhelmingly on the side of creators. We must pay heed to this. I believe that if we are to preserve our rights, then it must be acknowledged that the Anglo-American tradition of copyright as a pure economic right must be adapted. This Anglo-American tradition has a lot to learn from the continental European idea of copyright as an authors’ right. Copyright and the restrictions that it places on the world at large, can only be justified if it is seen to protect the individual creator.

Few people have sympathy with the rights of what they see as faceless corporations. However many do have sympathy with the rights of the individual.

Secondly, copyright law must be applied consistently. I said a few minutes ago that we had a worldwide system of copyright. It is true that copyright is recognised around the whole world and progress has been made in areas such as China and the former Soviet Union. However, there is little consistency in the way in which it is applied.

For example, US Copyright Law exempts some 70 percent of outlets in the US such as bars and restaurants and more than 45 percent of shops and boutiques from having to pay performing right royalties. This exemption is in breach of the USA’s international obligations but nothing has been done to remedy the problem. The US depends upon strong intellectual property protection for a considerable portion of its success. When the largest economy in the world, which depends upon intellectual property, allows such an exception… what hope is there for the creator?

Thirdly, the importance of copyright must be recognised - not just for the creator, but also for society. I have, for more than 40 years, made my career and my living out of writing, recording and performing songs. Even without copyright, I might have written a song or two. But that is not the point. What I can say for sure is that without copyright, my brothers and I would not have written anything like the number of songs which we have created. I can also say that without copyright only a very few people would have heard our songs.

Copyright is not a barrier to progress. It is a facilitator of progress, creativity and communication. The existence of strong copyright will not stifle the development of the digital utopia which Google, Microsoft and others promise. Copyright will promote such development. Without copyright you have chaos and this is a far greater barrier to progress.

I am conscious that these three points may sound idealistic; it may even sound old fashioned. This is not surprising. The creator has always played the role of social and political commentator, a conscience of the people. This is how Picasso produced “Guernica”. In performing this role, it is critical that the creator be protected. Fortunately, the protection of the creator can be found in most cultures around the world. The creator, be he troubadour, jester or fool, has always been afforded the right of free speech. The creator has always been permitted to criticise the great and the good, even when others were not. Modern copyright provides the creator today with the tools to tell the artistic truth.

I started this talk with a quotation and I will end on another one. These words were written by the humorist Tom Lehrer in his song “Lobachevsky”:

“Plagiarize, Let no one else's work evade your eyes, Remember why the good lord made your eyes, So don't shade your eyes, But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize - Only be sure always to call it please 'research'.”

Without strong protection for creators these words may become more than a funny song – they may be a vision of the future.

As for my own part allow me to say this....it is a personal mission and as President of CISAC I will fight the powers that be until we get a result. Damn the torpedoes for there will always be torpedoes.

It will not be a smooth sail but again let me say this by being united dismissing the obstacles and keeping our eyes on the goal...we will win!

Thank you.

Music is the private property of its authors who have the exclusive right to authorise the use of their works in exchange for the payment of “royalties”. Such royalties – negotiated with users by the Croatian Composers’ Society in the names of the worldwide creative community – constitute the main remuneration of creators for their work. By undermining the economic incentive underpinning copyright, the proposals of the Croatian Ministry of Tourism would have an irreversibly detrimental effect, not just on the creative community, but also on Croatia’s cultural development. What would Croatia be worth in term of tourism without any cultural scene?

Furthermore, there is no guarantee at all that such reduction on copyright royalties would benefit consumers and tourists nor would it result in cheaper entertainment. CISAC views this so-called action plan as another initiative driven by powerful users - media and hotels - to use the world’s repertoire of copyright music at the cheapest possible price. The vast majority of the world’s 2.5 million creators struggle to make ends meet and cannot afford to increase shareholder profits at their expense.

Creators are well-known guardians of cultural diversity. Yet for those more motivated by figures, it is important to remember that creators and creator-based activities are also major driving force of the economy and employment around the world. Recent economic surveys show that royalty collections grew at a higher percentage than the average GDP.

CISAC fully supports the Croatian Composers’ Society in its efforts to preserve the value of creativity and prevent the dismantling of the copyright system.

CISAC urges the Croatian’s government to reconsider its action plan for tourism and take into consideration the rights of creators.