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Study: European downloaders pay double tax on music

14 October 2005 15:43 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 3 comments

According to a study, some European music downloaders are paying usage rights on their copy protected files multiple times due to outdated private copy levies. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has urged European countries that have applied this extra tax to legal music downloads, to scrap them. According to the BSA, music downloads that are protected by DRM are being offered in increasing numbers so the need for private copying levies is no more.

Under DRM, music downloads carry a royalty at the point of purchase, so a percentage goes to the artists and labels. "With DRM technology's expanding role in the market, levies have become a superfluous double tax on consumers," Francisco Mingorance, director of public policy in Europe for the BSA, said in a statement. "Levies were designed to compensate for unpoliceable private copying. But with DRM, the rationale for levies disappears."

The levies don't apply in the UK but do in several European countries. Taxes are imposed on PCs and music playing equipment in some EU countries. "Lawmakers cannot ignore that private copy levies are increasingly obsolete in the digital age," Mingorance said. "Governments have an opportunity to bring real consumer benefits by applying the European Copyright Directive rules and phasing out the outdated levies system,"

Source:
News.com

Thanks to venomX05 for sending us a News Submission.

Permalink to this article

Labels tell artists 'we gave your money to our lawyers' (2 March 2008)

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Discuss this article!
Lethal_B (Moderator) 14 October 2005 23:48
Quote: music downloads that are protected by DRM are being offered in increasing numbers so the need for private copying levies is no more. im sorry, but the people who download off of these services don't know the quality of it. maybe they don't appreciate good sound like i do. but i will never use the current legal download services with all the drm tripe. on limewire, you can get any song you like encoded at 192kbps with no DRM bull. not saying this is highest quality, but it is better than 128kbps and i get the freedom of my music! don't get me wrong though, nothing beats actually buying a cd =) Quote: The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has urged European countries that have applied this extra tax to legal music downloads, to scrap them that is reasonable. it's not fair for the buyers of music to have to pay for the freeloaders ;) Quote: The levies don't apply in the UK so how come apple chage 80 pence a track? thats nearly a pound! can one of you kind americans tell me how much a song on itunes costs over there? as usual, we get ripped off! :[ [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 14 October 2005 23:49
Dela (Staff Member) 15 October 2005 9:16
It's $0.99 in the U.S. and �0.99 in the rest of Europe. In GBP that's == Europe -> 67p United States -> 55p Here'a an artcile for you to read --> http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/6140.cfm [ + quote]
elev8tor (Newbie) 16 October 2005 3:37
Hi, can't believe people in the UK pay as much as 80pence for downloading a single track of music. Must be insane. If it weren't for audio and video pirates, along with p2p sites on the web. The music and video industry, along with the numpties who pay 80p a track would be contributing to us having to pay �20-25 for a CD, or �30 for a DVD. It's pirate pressure that has brought prices down in the shops, althought it's still a rip-off at around �10 for a CD. There is only ever one original, everything else is second hand. Later, elev8tor. [ + quote]