[A2k] Article on EU Commission consultation on copyright levies

[Michelle Childs]

As previously posted on these lists the Eu Commission is currently
consulting on copyright levies. This is very controversial, below is an
article which summarises some of the key issues.

Copy of the consultation:
 http://www.ec.europa.eu/internal_market/copyright/docs/levy_reform/stakeho=
lder_consultation_en.pdf
Michelle

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/13/euro_copy_levy/
By OUT-LAW.COM
Published Tuesday 13th June 2006 09:44

A =93copy tax=94 could spread from blank CDs to mobile phones to internet
service providers, according to a consultation document from the European
Commission. The document warns that a wide spread of the tax would cause a
backlash against it.

In most European countries, though not in the UK, copying of music for
private use is allowed. These countries add a levy to the cost of items
which are likely to be used to make private copies so that the copyright
holder can receive some compensation.

The Commission is consulting with industry so that it can change the laws
around this =93copyright levy=94 to suit the world of digital copying. It h=
as
warned, though, that applying traditional principles to digital media
could cause consumers to reject any idea of a copyright levy.

"[In the digital media world] it would no longer be possible to hold only
liable the manufacturers or importers of equipment and media," said the
Commission's consultation document. "The logic of levies would also have
to be applied to broadband and infrastructure service providers including
telecommunications providers that carry content."

"If this were to happen, levies would proliferate and there would be a
serious risk of a backlash against the rights holder community and
consumer welfare," it said.

Already some nations charge copyright levies on mobile phones and
printers, as well as blank discs and DVD writers. Computers are also being
levied, since they are capable of and used for the copying of copyrighted
material.

The Commission has called for the complex situation to be clarified and is
seeking the opinions of industry, but its consultation document recognises
that it is not an easy task. "The current system of copyright levies as a
means of compensation for rights holders does not take into account the
phenomenon of convergence," the document says. "Copyright levies were born
in the analogue environment =85 the distinction currently applied in levy
systems between media, equipment and devices is already outmoded as it has
not been adapted for the advent of the digital environment."

Most European countries allow private copying but recognise that rights
holders must receive some compensation for that use. The copyright levy
raises money that goes to artist representative groups. The UK chose
instead to outlaw even private use copying, so no levy exists.

Last week the British Phonographic Industry chairman Peter Jamieson told a
House of Commons committee that the BPI will not pursue individuals
copying privately, even though it is illegal.

"We now need to make a clear and public distinction between copying for
your own use and copying for dissemination to third parties and make it
unequivocally clear to the consumer that if they copy their CDs for their
own private use in order to move the music from format to format we will
not pursue them," said Jamieson.

Copyright =A9 2006, OUT-LAW.com

OUT-LAW.COM is part of international law firm Pinsent Masons.


--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
http://www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA .Tel.:
+1.202.332.2670,Fax: +1.202.332.2673

Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
1 Route des  Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727