Citizens, Professionals, Business Associations and Trade Unions reaffirm their united stance against the ‘Copyright Levy’ or Digital Copyright Levy and in defense of users

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  Our arguments

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A ’copyright levy’ is a form of indirect remuneration for rights holders based on the premise that an act of private copying cannot be licensed for practical purposes by the relevant rights holders.

Remuneration by means of levies can be described as indirect as copyright levies are not directly imposed on those that carry out acts of private copying, namely the consumers. The copyright levy is applied to the equipment or media that consumers use. Those Member States that provide for copyright levies impose them on manufacturers, importers or distributors of equipment or media that allows consumers to copy (" the ICT industry)". The representatives of the associations and federations of users, consumers, businesses and professionals, on behalf of the citizens and organizations that have signed the memorandum of the todoscontraelcanon.es platform

DECLARE:

  1 That following the approval of the reform of the Intellectual Property Act and the amendments made to the Act during its reading in the Spanish Parliament, the new text paves the way for the introduction of a new digital media Copyright Levy or ‘Copyright Levy’

  2 That an extensive group of citizens, professional associations and organizations representing consumers and information technologies, telecommunications and Internet sector businesses, demand greater transparency towards consumers in the payment of this Copyright Levy, which indiscriminately raises the price of products and services, and reaffirm their stance against the ‘Copyright Levy’, which will hinder the development of the Information Society and make our economy less competitive.

  3 In particular, these organizations reject the proposal to levy Copyright Levies on digital media, equipment or networks and technology in general, because the beneficiaries of such Copyright Levies are a specific sector of the economy or intermediation activity. It goes against the general interest, because this implies that any group or sector that is affected by a technological change will be able to claim a similar Copyright Levy on the technology that has caused this change, and it prevents the development of new business models.

  4 That Internet is propitiating a change of model, with new distribution channels as alternatives to traditional models. A Copyright Levy must not protect one channel from another, and the move from the analog to the digital world must allow copyright management to be conducted by methods other than this Copyright Levy, a measure that does not solve the underlying problem and, to a certain extent, legitimizes illegal downloading of music or other cultural products.

  5 Inarguably, anyone who is entitled to payment for their work, must be paid; anyone who must pay for a service, must do so, and everyone should use new technologies, to prevent the digital divide from widening and allow our country to move forward at the same pace as the countries around us.

  6 All the elements of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT): telecommunications networks, equipment and digital media, serve both for content that is copyrighted and content that is not ( public domain, copyleft, creative commons, etc.) and therefore, if the Copyright Levy is applied indiscriminately, all users will be penalized (to the benefit of a few). Besides, right now most of the content used on these media is not copyrighted (i.e. voice, e-mail, browsing) or does not contain data which, furthermore, are private.

  7 People will end up paying the same Copyright Levy several times, because they pay the copyright when they buy or acquire the content, and have to pay again when they store it on a device, or move it over a telecommunications network. As shown by the Analog Copyright Levy levied on CDs and DVDs, this Copyright Levy will not, by any means, erradicate piracy or illegal street vendors and, in some cases, may even encourage it by raising the cost of the digital media, and lead to CD purchases, like other Internet services, being delocated to other countries where they are not Copyright Levies.

  8 Furthermore, the signatory organizations also wish to express their concern at how certain parties are publicly lobbying in the Media, and lobbying all the parliamentary groups, for telecommunications networks, equipment, digital media or Internet access to be Copyright Levies, and in doing so systematically and indiscriminately manage to criminalize new technology users and suppliers, by putting them on a level with crimes such as piracy or illegal street vending.

  9 The signatories express their total respect for private property, and for the copyright of content of any origin whatsoever (text, audio, video, photographs, etc.), and their full readiness to work more closely with the judicial and police authorities, within the regulatory framework established with the public administrations, with a view to determining and clarifying any criminal activities involving the misuse of ICTs, in a form and content properly harmonized with European legislation. 10 More and more players are leveraging on the advantages afforded by ICTs to facilitate access to and the promotion of their content, which is why it is understandable that the content industry is in the process of adapting to this new reality. A growing number of experiments show that ICT users are willing to pay when they are offered attractive new products, so the content industry and sector have success cases based precisely on the use of ICTs.

Additionally, these organizations call for an active debate so as to seek sustainable solutions, in keeping with the sign of the times, with a view to putting Spain on an equal footing with its neighbouring countries in terms of ICT usage parameters, Internet development and productivity levels. For all these reasons and in order to clarify and give an appropriate response to society in general, and to the signatories of this manifesto in particular

WE REQUEST:

  1 That this memorandum be made known to all the parties that are liable to have an influence on Intellectual Property Rights legislation to ensure that the reflections put forward in this document are taken into account when the reform of the Intellectual Property Act is debated in the Senate.

  2 That measures be adopted to prevent an indiscriminate Copyright Levy being paid on all telecommunications and computer equipment and digital media.

  3 That the Copyright Levy collected to compensate the losses suffered by authors whenever their works are copied, only be collected by those who suffer such losses, by levying it on the retail products that the publishing houses and producers of intellectual creations use to distribute such creations

  4 That anyhow, if the levying of any Copyright Levy is regulated and for the sake of ensuring greater transparency and guarantees both for end consumers and the recipients of the collected amounts, the signatories of this manifesto ask:

4.1 To take an active part in setting the amounts and the media to be Copyright Levies.

4.2 That the maximum amount of the Copyright Levy be limited in proportion to the cost price of the product upon which such Copyright Levy is levied.

4.3 That the Act specifies that consumers must be informed how much they are paying as Copyright Levy and who collects such Copyright Levy.

4.4 That the Act prohibit any instances of the Copyright Levy having to be paid two, three or more times when several devices and media are involved in making a single copy.

4.5 That the Act eliminate the incompatibility between the measures that restrict the making of private copies and the Copyright Levy payable on such media.

4.6 That any administrative organizations, Associations, NGOs and groups as well as businessmen and self-employed professionals who do not use the media and equipment to store copyrighted content, be exempted from paying the Copyright Levy.

4.7 That the Copyright Levy be collected and distributed by the Administration in order to:

4.7.1 Guarantee the transparency, collection and subsequent distribution to its recipients

4.7.2 Guarantee that the Copyright Levy payers who have to pass on the Copyright Levy are entitled to inspect the books and accounts currently entrusted to the Copyright Management Companies.

4.8.- That arbitration bodies be set up to handle any controversies that arise with respect to the collection/payment of this Copyright Levy without having to resort to the Ordinary Courts and that the bodies responsible for collecting it be obliged to abide by such arbitration.

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