Report on private copying levies, Motion for a European Parliament Resolution on private copying levies (2013/2114(INI).
"whereas digital private copying has taken on major economic importance as a result of technological progress and the shift to the internet and cloud computing, and whereas the existing system of private copying levies does not take sufficient account of developments in the digital age; whereas there is currently no alternative approach in this area that would ensure appropriate remuneration for the rightholder and at the same time make private copying possible; whereas a discussion nevertheless needs to be conducted with a view to updating the private copying mechanism, making it more efficient and taking greater account of technological progress;[...]
A virtuous system in need of modernisation and harmonisation
7. Emphasises that the major disparities between national systems for the collection of levies, especially as regards the types of product subject to the levy and the rates of levy, can distort competition and give rise to ‘forum shopping’ within the internal market;
8. Invites the Member States and the Commission to conduct a study on the essential elements of private copying, in particular a common definition, the concept of ‘fair compensation’ – which at present is not explicitly regulated by Directive 2001/29/EC – and the concept of ‘harm’ to an author resulting from unauthorised reproduction of a rightholder’s work for private use; calls on the Commission to look for common ground as regards which products should be subject to the levy and to establish common criteria for the negotiating arrangement for the rates applicable to private copying, with a view to
enforcing a system that is transparent, equitable and uniform for consumers and creators;
Single collection procedure, clearer consumer information and more efficient reimbursement procedures
13. Takes the view, therefore, that in order to preclude any double payment in the event of cross-border transactions, private copying levies for the same product should only be able to be collected once by a collective management organisation of a Member State, and that levies unduly paid in a Member State other than that of the end user should be reimbursed;[...]
18. Urges the Member States to adopt transparent exemption rules for professional uses in order to ensure that they are exempt, including in practice, from private copy levies in compliance with the case law of the Court of Justice;
Transparency regarding allocation of revenue
20. Welcomes the directive on collective management of copyright and related rights recently adopted by Parliament and the Council which calls for greater transparency with regard to the flow of remuneration collected, allocated and paid to rightholders by collective management organisations, for example through the publication of an annual transparency
report including a special section on the use of amounts deducted for social and cultural purposes;
Technical protection measures
26. Stresses that, particularly in the digital age, it is necessary to authorise the deployment of technical protection measures in order to restore the balance between freedom to make copies for private use and exclusive copying rights;
27. Stresses that technical protection measures should not prevent consumers from making copies or rightholders from being fairly remunerated for private copying;
Licences
29. Stresses that private copying exception arrangements should apply to certain online services, including certain cloud computing services;
New business models in the digital environment
30. Calls on the Commission to assess the impact on the private copying system of the use of cloud computing technology for the private recording and storage of protected works, so as to determine whether these private copies of protected works should be taken into account by the private copying compensation mechanisms and, if so, how this should be done;"
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