The undersigned European organisations of authors, performers and producers have taken note of the recommendations presented by Mr Antonio Vitorino, which mark the conclusion of the mediation process on private copying levies initiated by the European Commission.
We strongly disagree with the main orientations recommended by Mr Vitorino. In the event that the European Commission were to accept these recommendations, the result would: i) have a negative effect on consumers; ii) damage the interests of rightholders (and thus damage the development of European culture); and iii) increase the complexity of licensing agreements. The parties that would benefit are only importers and manufacturers of recording media/devices, which are mainly non EU companies.
Our main concern is that licensing is seen as a way of eradicating private copying levies, which is contrary to the model applied today in most EU countries where both systems are complementary. By adopting such a position, Mr Vitorino goes back in time to when the very principle of the private copying exception in the digital era was challenged by those who called for the implementation of technical protection measures instead. This was not the solution ultimately chosen in Europe under the 2001 Copyright Directive.
By stating that copies made by end-users for private purposes from a licensed service do not cause any harm (therefore not requiring the corresponding remuneration from private copying levies), Mr Vitorino basically suggests eliminating private copying levies, notably for so called “new business models in the digital environment”.
This appears to represent a gross misconception of the private copying system. Licensed services receive authorisation for the exploitation of works based on the specificities of each business model, while the remuneration for private copying is organised through the levy-based system to guarantee that users are able to make private copies, whatever the service’s business model.
With this recommendation, Mr Vitorino proposes to get rid of the exception when services are licensed, under the assumption that rightholders should include the price of private copies in the authorisation.