In December 2006, the President of the European Commission postponed adoption of a Recommendation aiming to challenge systems currently existing in 21 of the 27 EU member states providing for an exception and private copy levies.
This Recommendation aimed to promote the generalization of DRM (Digital Right Management) in replacement of the exception for private copy, with foreseeable consequences:
generalization of the need for the public to obtain prior authorization before proceeding with any private copy,
disappearance of private copy levies to the detriment of creators, performers and producers, since the public will refuse in the future to pay such levies on blank media (CDs, DVDs, digital memory, etc), allowing private copy if it is in some way integrated in the selling price of works and services,
reduction in the revenues of authors, performers and producers confronted with the growing power of multinational companies in IT, consumer electronics and telecommunications,
lack of genuine protection of works and services, since the capacity of technology to “protect” them is challenged every day as such,
considerable slowing of the growth of the digital market, because of reservations of the part of the public in the fact of restrictions to the use and interoperability of DRMs as well as the weakening of its ability as recognized today to proceed without prior authorization with private copy,
disappearance of a concerted cultural management system that contributes significantly to financing young creators and cultural diversity.
Private copy enables private individuals to copy protected works in exchange for a levy paid back to rights holders.
This system provides for a fair balance between the parties:
the public, which can freely make copies of works for their own private use without requiring prior authorization and for a very low price,
rights holders, who benefit from true remuneration for private copy of protected works,
manufacturers of recording devices and equipment, whose sales are stimulated by the offered in this way to private individual to make copies.
This system also provides a key way to fund cultural activities. In France, 25% of the sums collected must go to assisting creation, promoting live performances and training artists. Every year, 40 to 45 million euros are dedicated by collective management societies to supporting artistic vitality and employment in cultural fields.
The disappearance of resources from private copy would directly affect the general economy of live performance and creation. It would weaken cultural diversity and reduce access to culture.
As the European Union is ratifying the Convention on Cultural Diversity voted by UNESCO, the draft recommendation being considered by the European Commission represents a serious breach of this Convention, as well as the cultural ambition that, in France and in all of Europe, form one of the key elements in our identity, as well as of our economic dynamism.
Rights holders and the public refuse that these benefits be put into question on the pretext of the unjustified frontal attack of the Copyright Levies Reform Alliance (CLRA), grouping in particular such non-European enterprises as Adobe, Apple, Canon, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, JVC, Microsoft, Pioneer, Samsung and Sony.
Rights holders and the public:
refuse to see the fair balance set up by current measures ensuring remuneration for private copy put in jeopardy,
emphasize that implementing such a policy would inevitably cause losses in funding for cultural activities,
rebel against the rise of a purely industrial and commercial ideology that would result in making culture and creation depend on the good will of powerful, often extra-European players in IT and telecommunications,
request the maintenance and the extension to all states in the European Economic Area of proven mechanisms that have helped adapt to technological changes to keep the necessary balance between creators’ right, freedom of the public and access to culture,
call the public, creators, artists and cultural producers to demand that the European Commission hears and takes into account their concerns and reflections.
12 February 2007
