[LINK] Germany to introduce copying levy on computer hardware

[Ross Johnson]

I wouldn't want to give the government the idea that they can
squeeze submission out of voters by upping the stakes from media
to devices.

I'm opposed to "levies". Levies will only make it
possible for the big recording companies to pay artists an
even smaller percentage of the revenue they rip out of their
audiences, and it won't reduce the cost of recorded CDs.

The vast majority of musicians earn the all of their
income from music by performing live or teaching. So there
isn't even a "provides the greatest benefit" argument here.
It only benefits the relative few who are already making
the most money out of the industry.

Just about every live musician I see is selling copies
of their own recordings at the venue. In fact it's becoming
THE way to make a bit more money now that the GST has
reduced musicians incomes even further. Why should poorer
artists be made to subsidise the wealthier artists?

I buy recordable CDs by the hundred and I use them like confetti
as consumables for my own studio and live recordings, multitrack
disk recorder backups, archives etc,. We use them here at uni
by the hundred for archiving and distributing large datasets.
There is no use of copyrighted material involved in any of it.

Why should I pay one cent to an anonymous artist by way of
a tax on blank CDs when I pay for the commercial CDs that I
listen to and the live performances that I attend?
Why should I pay vastly more by comparison to those who are
doing the real copyright infringement? I suppose a levy on
devices at least means that I don't pay more than the infringers
do.

Ross

Mark Burnard wrote:
> 
> You would think it would make more sense to put the tax on the actual media,
> rather than the hardware - such as a tax on CD-Rs, floppy disks, ZIP disks,
> blank video and audio tapes, and I guess if it was deemed necessary you
> could add a small tax to photocopy paper or (better still) toner cartridges.
> 
> It would seem a little fairer, since purchasing the hardware is no indicator
> of massive duplication, but purchase of large quantities of media is far
> more likely to be.
> 
> Thoughts, comments?
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Mark Burnard
> Technical Writer
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Hans W. Groenewegen
> > [mailto:Hans.Groenewegen@infotech.monash.edu.au]
> > Sent: Thursday, 7 September 2000 9:37
> > To: ggm@dstc.edu.au
> > Cc: link@www.anu.edu.au
> > Subject: Re: [LINK] Germany to introduce copying levy on computer
> > hardware
> >
> >
> > I believe that Germany and Austria (and possibly other
> > European countries) have
> > had a similar tax for many years on music cassette recorders
> > and VHS recorders.
> >
> > Hans.
> >
> > ggm@dstc.edu.au wrote:
> >
> > > On the idea of levy mechanisms...
> > >
> > >
> > http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,3
> 65198,00.html
> >
> > Germany plans to introduce a drastic new "duplication tax" on computer
> > and internet equipment, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper said today.
> >
> > The tax, to be paid by hardware manufacturers, is designed to hit almost
> > all devices capable of copying or transmitting data - such as printers,
> > hard disks, modems and ISDN systems.
> >
> > The money gained, thought to be DM75-600 marks (£23-188) per device, would
> > be put towards authors' royalties on the video, audio or text transmitted.
> >         :
> >         :
> 
> --
> Hans W. Groenewegen,                  Tel.: +61 3 9905 2672
> Deputy University Librarian,          Fax : +61 3 9905 2610
> Monash University Library,
> Wellington Road.                      E-mail:
> Clayton. Victoria 3168.               hans.groenewegen@lib.monash.edu.au
> Australia
> 
>   ----------------------------------------------------------------

-- 
+----------------------+---+
| Ross Johnson         |   | E-Mail: rpj@ise.canberra.edu.au
| Info Sciences and Eng|___|
| University of Canberra   | FAX:    +61 6 2015227
| PO Box 1                 |
| Belconnen  ACT    2616   | WWW:    http://willow.canberra.edu.au/~rpj/
| AUSTRALIA                |
+--------------------------+