Germans battle over copyright 'tax' on PCs

GERMAN CONSUMERS FACE PAYING MORE for their PCs after a Patent Office mediator issued a recommendation that all PCs carry a €12 'tax' to pay copyright owners. The PC industry has immediately condemned the idea as unfair.

Although the recommendation is not binding, the PC industry says it would have to pass the charge onto consumers and that it would unfairly label every PC user as a pirate. Fujitsu Siemens has indicated it is likely to take the case to court, says the Wall Street Journal. At the centre of the furore is the VG Wort society which collects royalties for copyright holders. It had initially chased after a levy of €30 per machine.

The cost to German consumers could be as much as €70 million a year according to BitKom, an organisation representing the interests of 1300 IT firms. Copyright collecting societies are also trying to get levies imposed on the sale of printers, scanners and other devices on the basis that they could be used to copy material.

The battle against these levies may not be easy to win. Many European countries already impose them on blank media such as CDRs. µ