The Munich district court is requiring Fujitsu-Siemens to pay a levy of €12 for every new PC that it sells in Germany. A separate decision from a Stuttgart court singles out printers by defining them as "copy-making" devices and therefore liable for levies. German collecting society VG Wort wants printers to be subject to a levy, similar to a royalty, of up to €300 depending on their speed and whether they are mono or colour printers.
Technology manufacturers are expected to appeal both decisions. EICTA, the voice of the Information and Communications Technology and Consumer Electronics Industry in Europe, says they negatively affect German consumers and set a negative precedent for the entire European technology market.
EICTA Director Lizanne Scott said:
"Both decisions are disproportionate and do not follow the provisions of the EU Copyright Directive. The German courts have erected new barriers to the European single market, and the decisions run contrary to the Lisbon Agenda of strengthening Europe's industrial competitiveness. We cannot understand how a Member State of the EU with one of the largest technology markets can arbitrarily decide to place levies on the tools needed to build the European knowledge economy."
"We question whether German law allows for the imposition of copyright levies on PCs and printers. Claiming a new levy on printers is totally unreasonable. People simply do not buy a printer with the aim of making countless copies of a copy protected work."
German technology trade association, BITKOM, expects PC manufacturers will be made to pay an extra €90 million from 2005.
Given the retroactive nature of the decision, it is expected that the technology industry will see a €300 million burden added on top for the period of 2001-2004. BITKOM also estimates that printer manufacturers will be made to pay an extra €116 million solely for printers sold in Germany in 2002 based on a levy of just €20 per printer – the actual levy claimed by collecting society VG Wort ranging from €10 to €300 depending on the speed of the printer and whether the device is mono or colour.
The claim applies from 2001, when it was first made. EICTA says that being forced to raise prices puts German consumers and manufacturers at an unfair competitive disadvantage by making new products more expensive compared to other European countries.
