Making Private Copying Work for a Digital Europe

On 18th September 2013 the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee held a hearing on private copying levies.  The hearing saw authors, performers, film producers, consumers and manufacturers present their visions of the system for MEPs to take into account as they prepare a report on the issue.

What shook us at SAA is that rightsholders organisations were accused of acting as if the system worked fine and should not be changed.  That we had our head in the sand and were not coming up with suggestions on how to improve the system. We have been making proposals for some time now.  These include:

  • A single EU declaration point
  • A harmonised method for defining leviable devices
  • A harmonised approach to definitions, principles and procedures of tariff setting
  • Visibility of the levies for consumers
These would ensure harmonised conditions throughout the EU and reduce the burden on importers and manufacturers, who play a vital role in making the levy system an efficient and cost effective source of compensation for rightholders. We want legitimately purchased creative works to be accessible on the full range of devices that the modern consumer has at their disposal. The draft report has already been leaked (in French, here).  You can read SAA’s detailed proposals here.