Foxton and Daltrey suggest musicians incapable of managing money

Obviously skirting round the awkward fact that the copyright in most recordings is owned by corporations rather than the original musicians, Roger Daltrey and Bruce Foxton have complained that government plans to leave copyright terms untouched will condemn them to penury:

Daltrey told BBC News that musicians rely on royalties as many don't have pensions.

"They are not looking for a handout," he said, "just fair reward for their creative endeavours."

Bruce Foxton, who used to play bass guitar in The Jam, has also spoken on the issue.

"I've played bass on all The Jam tracks, and all we've been asking is that we can earn royalties from those recordings, assuming people keep buying them," he said. "Now I will be faced with losing all that when the time comes, and at a point when age will seriously limit my other earning opportunities."

We reckon Bruce has got another twenty-odd years of earnings which he could, as other people have to with their earnings, sort out his pension scheme in; Daltrey, meanwhile, might be able to squeeze by using his American Express card and income from his trout farm. Of course, if they're really worried about the plight of pensioners, they could try campaigning for a rise in tax rates for top earners so that everyone can look forward to a comfortable old age, rather than making a few musicians rely on there being an audience for work six decades old to be able to live.