Government expands private copying levy to USB sticks and wearables
From 2018 to 2020, consumers will also have to pay home copying tax on USB sticks and wearables. In addition, some existing rates will increase. From 2018, for example, per smartphone must be paid 4.70 euros instead of 3.50 euros.
The government has announced the rates for the private copying levy from 2018 to 2020. These have been established by the consultative body Stichting Negotiations Home Copying Fee, or SONT. The current rates were established in October 2014 and will end on December 31, 2017.
Under the new scheme, the private copying levy on CD-R and DVD-R will end. Until 2012, these blank media carriers were the only products on which private copying levy was levied. In 2013, the number of chargeable devices expanded significantly, with PCs and smartphones. The system of levies has been established to compensate copyright holders for private copies.
For the next two years, the government will again expand the number of product types to which the levy applies. There is a charge of 60 euro cents each for USB sticks. According to the government, ‘research shows that a substantial number of works that are subject to private copying are stored on USB sticks’. Reference is made to the Private Copy 2017 edition study conducted by Kantar Public on behalf of the SONT, but which does not appear to be publicly available.
In addition, a levy of 1.20 euros applies to wearables with storage options. The Kantar study would show that many wearables are provided with music files and, according to the government, the market is now so large that a levy is ‘appropriate’.
The government is also discussing the use of cloud storage to store files. A fee should also apply for this, but this is included in the levy for products that are usually used to access online storage, such as the laptop, tablet, smartphone. Remarkably enough, the levy for PCs, laptops and tablets is going down, but that for smartphones is rising significantly.
The home copying fee for set-top boxes with hard disks will increase from EUR 3.50 to EUR 3.80. NLConnect, which represents the interests of the cable and telecom companies, calls the increase unjustified. “After all, viewers have already paid for the linear broadcast and can often legally watch it again via replay or online. It is strange to ask for an additional levy specifically for local storage on set-top boxes. The damage for rightholders of local TV recordings is so minimal that they should be completely excluded from the tax.”
| Home copy levy rates | ||||
| CD-R & DVD-R | €0.02 | – | ||
| E-reader | €0.70 | €0.80 | ||
| External HDD/SSD | €0.70 | €0.60 | ||
| Portable audio player/video player | €1.40 | €1.20 | ||
| Smartphone/ phone with MP3 player | €3.50 | €4.70 | ||
| Tablet | €3.50 | €2.60 | ||
| Desktop/PC/Notebook/Server/Media Center | €3.50 | €2.60 | ||
| Hard disk set-top box / HDD recorder | €3.50 | €3.80 | ||
| USB stick | – | €0.60 | ||
| Wearables with storage capability | – | €1.20 | ||