Friday, February 25, 2005
altmodels: Germany
Germany To Impose Copyright Levy On PCs, by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London 28 December 2004
http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story_open.asp?storyname=18386
After a three-year battle between copyright holders and computer manufacturers, Germany is about to enforce a law imposing a copyright levy on new computers.
The District Court of Munich last week ordered Fujitsu Siemens Computers (Holding) BV to pay a copyright levy of $13 plus 16 percent VAT on new PCs. Supported by the German Patent Office, VG Wort - an association of German composers, authors and publishers - went to court originally seeking a levy of Euros 30 (US$41) per new computer sold in the country, in compensation for royalties lost through digital copying. VG Wort plans to apply the decision to all PC vendors in the country. Fujitsu Siemens is considering appealing the case, the company said.
For many years, Germany has been collecting copyright levies on the sale of analog copying devices, such as blank audio and video cassettes. The levies are intended to compensate rights holders for lost royalties from private copying of music, images and moves.
