Dutch copyright fee on electronics is too low, content owners say

Fee up to ?5 per device is too low, apparently.Earlier this week, the Dutch authorities decided to OK a levy on the sales of consumer electronics equipment - namely computers, smartphones, set top boxes, audio and video equipment and hard drive storage - to cover losses for content creators from "home copying."The fee varies, but is as high as ? for a new PC, for example. According to two groups representing the content industries, Buma/Stemra and Stichting Thuiskopie, the fee of ?5 is actually too low.This appears to be a direct contradiction of figures from accountancy firm PriceWaterHouseCoopers, which estimated the loss from home copying in the country at about ?12.1 million. By comparison, the new levies are expected to generate about ?27 million.A Dutch law passed in 2005 also introduced levies on purchases of blank media and MP3 players. Content owners now feel that newer technology is leading to far more home copying, and much higher losses.Permalink | Comments

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