The levy for home copies that consumers pay when purchasing a smartphone will increase in the coming year. The Stichting Negotiations Thuiskopievergoedingen has reached an increase from 4.70 euros to 7.30 euros, it was published today. Telephone sellers are disappointed and ask Minister Dekker to look at the system.
The levy serves as compensation for rightholders because listeners and viewers copy or download music or videos, for example. The levy dates back to the era of cassette tapes, but still applies in this streaming era – now it is about listening to music or watching series offline.
‘Out of step’
Consumer electronics companies believe that copyright protection through this regulation “is increasingly out of step with the technical and economic reality”, says Lotte de Bruijn, director of NLdigital on behalf of several manufacturers and importers. “We don’t think making music or series available offline is the same as an old-fashioned copy.”
The sector organizations will ask Minister Dekker (Legal Protection) in a letter to evaluate and revise the compensation for the period from 2023.
‘Makers the brunt’
Copyright organization BumaStemra does not want the levy to be lower in the future and is displeased with NLdigital’s request to the minister to review the system. “Surely it cannot be the case that the composers, lyricists and musicians are the victims of this in Corona time?”, Says Robbert Baruch of BumaStemra.
Makers get money when their music is streamed and not when it is downloaded. Baruch also wants to pay for downloads. “But also if the music is stored on a smartphone or other carrier.”
Baruch also points to the small part that is the charge in relation to the price of a new device. “It is a few euros in the hundreds of euros that a smartphone costs.”