[A2k] private copying levies cannot compensate for the consequences of illicit copying

[Anne-Catherine Lorrain]

--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
The French Council of State rendered a decision last week after SIMAVELEC, a
French group of electronic and audiovisual devices manufacturers, had
opposed several decisions of the French private copy Commission ("Commission
d'Albis").

In its decision of July 11th (concerning a 2006 decision of the private copy
Commission to determine the amount of levies on CDs, DVDs, portable devices
and integrated hard drives), the Council welcomed the manufacturers'
complaint and cancelled the decision of the Commission:

Private copying levies only aim to compensate for the loss of rights
holders' revenue due to licit and private use of copies of protected content
(without rights holders' authorization). Hence, "the determination of this
remuneration can only take into consideration licit private copies" ("which
notably includes copies made from licit sources"). According to the Council,
the commission had wrongly taken into account the damage caused by illicit
copies of phonograms and videograms.

 This decision occurs as the French private copy commission is under
scrutiny after the French government recently announced an eventual revision
of its functioning:
http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/informatique/0,39040745,39382248,00.htm
... and as the European Commission hosted last week the first meeting of the
newly created European Forum on private copying levies:
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1066

Link to the decision of the French Council of State:
http://www.conseil-etat.fr/ce/actual/index_ac_lc0812.shtml