Dutch MP3 copyright tax on hold
p2pnet.net News:- Dutch industry group SONT says it’ll wait for the European Commission to make a recommendation, slated for this month, before making a final decision to impose a copyright tax on digital music players and hard-disk video recorders.
Electronics manufacturers oppose a European levy on recordable media and music players, “saying the tax, designed to compensate artists for private copying, is out of date and that many consumers in effect pay twice,” says Reuters.
But SONT said its decision to, “keep the levy on blank CDs and DVDs stable and not to impose any tax on digital music players and hard-disk recorders” isn’t final, says the story. “We reject the idea that the levy in itself is harmful to innovation,” SONT said in a statement.
“In a draft obtained by Reuters last month, the Commission said the copyright tax, typically imposed at the import level, obstructs the European Union’s internal market and should be applied more narrowly,” Reuters states, adding:
“The levy, or ‘fair compensation’, varies from a few euros to tens of euros per gadget and is imposed by 20 of the bloc’s 25 members.
Consumers already pay a copyright fee when they buy music and that they shouldn’t have to pay again when they burn music on CD or transfer it to a digital music player or mobile phone, say those opposed to the new proposed new levy.
Also See:
Reuters – Dutch postpone copyright levy for MP3 players, November 29, 2006
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