Proposed Australian music copyright change - the levy system

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#1

I just posted the article Proposed Australian music copyright change - the levy system.

 We can read at Music Industry news, that there is  some talk of adding a levy to blank media down in Australia. That way they would  consider letting people backup their purchases legally....

Read the full article here:  [http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/8510-Proposed-Australian-music-copyright-change---the-levy-system.html](http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/8510-Proposed-Australian-music-copyright-change---the-levy-system.html)

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#2

How can this work? If I as an example wanted to purchase blank cd’s or dvd’s only for backing up data on my computer, I wouldn’t want to pay the levy to the music industry. Only way I can see it working is to have two types of media. One for music that have the levy while data disks do not. But it will be a no win situation for my example because you can store music on data disks also. So who’s the looser in this proposal?

#3

We have the same system here in Denmark. Well, exept that after a few years they changed the law so it was illegal to backup your own cd’s but you are still forced to pay the levy :r And why should people pay to the music industry evertime they backup their data?

#4

Androlight- exactly. Once again we are treated as criminals. I use optical to back up my photos from my digital camera as well. Therefore, for those backups the music industry should have to pay me a rebate. Plus, we can guess that most of the money is eaten up by government officials and staff members at the labels…:r

#5

In Canada we have the levy system (see http://neil.eton.ca/copylevy.shtml#what_is_a_levy for details) since 1998. The monies collected goes mainly towards the artists not the labels. It is a compromise - as with most compromises there are still inequities but in the whole picture society wins. There is no need to criminalize the consumer for reasonable product usage.

#6

In Australia the liberal govt introduced the GST (general service tax) to cash in on the black economy, WITH a promise to cut back or discontinue sundry other taxes. This did not happen and they are quite happily double dipping…as long as my arse points toward the ground I will not pay anymore levies…:X

#7

so I’m essentially paying someone something even tho they’ve done nothing positive (nothing at all) for me and would never willingly support them with my dollars? Makes so much sense I’m sure it’ll be law soon. Love to see where that money goes. Surely not to independent artists. I also love the assumption that our own content legitimately backed up is THEIR content, and these multi-million dollar ‘majors’ deserve our financial support by default. Absolutely ridiculous.

#8

so im going to backup my audio cd’s and then they want a donation, haha yeah right fu&*en idiots. just buy media online and elimate any taxes how are they going to enforce that, by saying please donate we are poor. Eat $hit

#9

I think it’s a great idea. However, levy should only be on CDR’s or DVDR’s (NOT CDRW and DVDRW as these are not permanent copies and could be likened to watching something played on free to air TV) and should be split evenly among Gaming Companies as well as Music and Movie companies. In response as well, no cd’s should have ANY form of copy protection, since the levy is to ensure that they get their cut on content which are copied, as it is an alternative income, not to provide additonal income. Also DVD media should have a small levy for Movie companies (and game companies, when they start releasing titles on DVD), also they should be forced to scrap CSS, macrovision & Region locking from DVD’s, and any/all copy protections which prevent / hinder people from copying the content. Should also have proviso that companies which lock or copy protect content should receive no share of the levy, and also that the levy should be removed in the case that any form of copy protection is commonly placed on the media. Keep in mind that the levy will be small, and professionals (eg Data Backup operators) should be exempt from the levy (and can claim it back at tax time). Copying for resale should still be criminal though, as people are making profits from content which isn’t there’s. We all know that it’s not gonna happen though. The levy will simply be charged, and they’ll still lock up the content behind 20 levels of protection.

#10

Cool. Does this mean that all musicians in Australia will recieve a royalty cheque in the mail every now and then, regardless of how many CD’s or songs they have produced. I played in a couple of bands and made one really poor quality ‘live’ album (actually it was only a tape. That was all we could afford in those days) which sold about 100 copies so will i get a share of these ‘rewards’ as well? :slight_smile:

#11

Well geez…another levy. First it was the gun levy, then the airline levy, also medicare levy, when are these people going to stand on there own two feet instead of hiding behind inadequacy. What is the world coming too. Hell!!! we will need an air levy soon.:frowning: