The levy is a small additional charge on blank CDs, MP3 players
and other media which is used to compensate artists for the
presumed use of the media to copy their material without payment.
It is strongly opposed by consumer electronics companies.
The European Union's Copyright Directive says that EU nations
can allow a limited private right to copy material such as music
but only if they fairly compensate artists for the presumed loss of
income. They can, like the UK, avoid the levy by not having a
private right to copy.
The UK, though, is introducing a private right to copy and it is
not thought that the Government plans to introduce a levy. It has
not yet explained how it intends to make this compatible with EU
rules.
GESAC is the European umbrella body for the societies which
collect royalties and distribute them to authors and artists. It
has published the report which seeks to debunk the arguments of the
opponents of the levy.
"The existence of different private copying remuneration schemes
(PCRS) (or none at all) in the different EU Member States has been
presented as an obstacle to the free movement of goods," said the
GESAC proposals. "GESAC is not aware of any Commission decision or
ECJ judgment in that sense."
The body calls for the treatment of non-payment of levies as a
criminal offence rather than a civil wrong. It also calls on
countries to make sure that sellers of media pay the levy and not
consumers, recognising that distance selling such as online
retailing makes the situation more complicated.
"A significant number of the operators that are liable for the
payment of private copying remuneration seek ways to circumvent
this payment," said the GESAC document. "It is also necessary to
address the case of distance sales in order to avoid that liability
for the payment of the private copying remuneration be extended to
consumers."
EU Internal Markets Commissioner Charlie McCreevy recently
attempted to reform the levy system, but faced insurmountable
political opposition, particularly from France. It is thought that
he could make another attempt at making the system more
transparent.
"We don't want any more emotional debate. We want a concrete
discussion and concrete proposals," said GESAC secretary general
Veronique Desbrosses, according to Reuters news agency. "We know
the Commission is still willing to address the issue."
The report said that the long term benefits of the levy system
were that consumers were able to make freer use of material, and
artists were given greater incentives to create.
