Electronics industry to continue subsidies of artists

The electronics industry looks set to continue subsidising performing artists despite the European Commission's decision last week (14 February) to re-open a debate on private copying levies.

Sources familiar with the dossier said that it was unlikely that proposals to scrap the levies system, which were shelved last year, would be making a comeback.

The levies system was introduced in the 1960s to ensure that the electronics industry compensated artists for legal private copying. The emergence of digital technologies and the parallel rise in illegal copying, however, has come with steeper levies for the industry.

In 2006, Charlie McCreevy, the commissioner for the internal market, attempted to scrap the levies, saying that the system, which is applied unevenly across the EU, impeded the functioning of the internal market. Levies on a 30-gigabyte iPod player, for example, vary enormously, from Û2.56 in Germany to Û90 in Spain.

But he was forced to shelve the proposals under pressure from the French government, allegedly because income from the levies is used to finance cultural events and projects.

The electronics industry views the re-opening of the debate as an opportunity to resuscitate the 2006 proposals. "The situation on the ground has become massively worse. Levies are being imposed on new products," said Mark McGann, director-general of electronics lobby EICTA.

"This is his [McCreevy's] last chance to do something meaningful. If there's nothing on the table by the beginning of the French presidency [July 2008], it's hard to see what he'd be able to achieve by the end of his mandate."

The consultation, which will culminate in a hearing in June, was announced at the same time as an extension of copyright protection for performers of recorded music from 50 to 95 years.

UK Liberal Democrat MEP Sharon Bowles urged McCreevy to scrap the levies. "I am delighted he is launching a new consultation. It is interesting that at the same time he announced extending the copyright term. This makes a much more attractive package if the two are eventually put together," she said.

The electronics industry looks set to continue subsidising performing artists despite the European Commission's decision last week (14 February) to re-open a debate on private copying levies.