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Canada for instance has a surcharge on blank CDs that goes to the media trade groups.

Sweden actually has the same kind of organization ( http://www.copyswede.se/default.asp?ML=10622 )... I think it even applies to hard drives!

That's also a pretty crappy idea, because what happens...? Well, since we became members of the EU, making online orders from outside the country became much cheaper, and I can just order 50 DVD-R's in bulk from Denmark for a cheaper price than in Sweden due to these fees, even including the shipping charges. All they're really achieving with these leives is risking making Swedish businesses lose profits due to these uncertain reports of how much the piracy even impact sales. I guess the fallacy being that Sweden is alone in the world, and they can do whatever they wish without impact to the economy. :-p

Coincidentally (or maybe not...), Sweden has a very similar tax and is home to a very large BT tracker...

Yeah, I don't understand the thinking behind these taxes either...

The end result? No less than:

1. People think it's more OK to copy copyrighted material, as they pay for it anyway.
2. People purchase media in bulk from neighboring countries without these taxes, where shipping charges are not a problem.

Result of #1 is increased piracy and #2 is economic losses for Swedish hardware retailers.

>The built-in fees are there just for the illegal copying that is occuring.

No, at least not in ever country. In Sweden, the leavy on media is to compensate for the PRIVATE copying that copyright law allows. It is a trade off, the copyright law allows you to make copies for private use and the leavy is to compensate for that. Perhaps it works differently in other countries though, no idea. The law actually specifically says that the leavy applies to media aimed at private use and copying, hence media used primarilly for non private use or if you can show that you will use it for commercial purposes, you don't have to pay the leavy. Here is a link (in Sweden unfortunately) to the organisation collecting the leavy explaining about it:

http://www.copyswede.se/default.asp?ML=2142

> In my opinion, they are a scam. But, THAT is the law.

Appearantly not in every country though.

>Better yet, are you so confidant that what you are doing is legal, that you would be
>willing to publically announce you have a digital copy of the movie (without having any
>physical copy).

Ehh, in what way would a digital copy not be considered a physical one? Or more important being considered as a copy for copyright purposes (and in whatever country you discuss)? On top of that, not many countries makes it an infringement to POSESS a copy, it is the creation of the copy and in some cases the use of it that might be an infringement.

"If it's anything like real life there are many different groups they represent - not just the major labels, but also hundreds if not thousands of independant labels and artists."

The list is here. Note that it's made up of organizations that represent creators and artists -- the revenue stream from the levy bypasses record labels.

I wasn't able to find out how they divy up the money. Likely, Copyswede simply hands over the relevant money to groups like SAMI and they decide how to distribute it to their members. An educated guess is that SAMI weighs their distribution based on music sales, similar to how Canada does it -- using the theory that music is copied in the same proportion that it is sold. This method is, of course, highly likely to be inaccurate, but it's probably the best one they can think of.

"Last I heard it went to the big recording studios NOT the artists. And then only the Big studios. So it still goes to funding evil, even if its not the RIAA."

This is one of those instances where clicking on the links in the summary can answer your questions. This page on the Copyswede site lists the members -- notice that they're organizations representing artists and creators. That page should clear up your misunderstanding. The revenue stream from the money collected by Copyswede bypasses record companies.

In case you were wondering, we have similar artists' rights societies here in the US (although they are not directly involved in collecting the tarrif on music CD-Rs -- that's another discussion). The license money paid by radio stations, bars, clubs, etc. to play music goes directly to the composers and songwriters, and, as with the Copyswede collection, is not filtered through the record company. The record company makes money on the selling of the recording (upon which they have the copyright), while the composers and songwriters retain the copyright on the words and music, and earn money on other uses of their music, such as playing it on radio stations and jukeboxes or using it in movies or TV shows.

You're not the only person to be surprised by this. If you have any other questions, just ask.

" WRONG. The money goes to copyright holders. Most artist do not own their own copyrights. Their record companies do."

You're partially correct. Here in the US, the record company typically owns the copyright on the recording, while the artist retains the copyright on the words and music -- also known as the "publishing rights." Here in the US we have a couple of non-profit societies, ASCAP and BMI, that make sure the artists get paid for radio airplay, jukebox airplay, and pretty much everything else unrelated to actually selling the CD. As an aside, ASCAP and BMI aren't directly related to the collecting of the levy on music CD-Rs in the US, so they're not the direct equivalent of Copyswede.

Copyswede, the organization referenced and linked to in the summary, represents the creative folks -- including organizations like "The Association of Swedish Illustrators," "The Swedish Playwrights' Union," and so on. The relevant ones here are SAMI (a link in English which will give you some good background) -- the Swedish Artists' and Musicians' Interest Organization -- and the Swedish Federation of Professional Musicians (which does not have an English site that I can find).

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, just ask. Your assertations that Copyswede gives money to record companies, and that I am incorrect, are interesting. Please let me know if you have any citations to back this up.

Imagine that - not wanting to pay money to a corrupt industry that wants payment from everybody both innocent and guilty, just in case thery do something wrong.

This is actually not a piracy levy, but a privacy levy. It's a fee taken to compensate artists from the legal rights you have to make personal copies.

Here's the deal: Copyswede's Blank Tape Levy [english]

IMHO, that only makes it even more freaky. It's a legal right we have, and they seek compensation for that right, and the gov't blindly think they can do so? I don't understand how they can have legal support to do this. Note this is not about the gov't collecting levies, it's about a commercial organization. They call themselves a "co-operative economic association".

But regardless the intent, it's ridiculous to put a levy on... blank records... in my opinion. They have no clue what I do with them, which ones I use to backup work on, to send digital photos to my family on, etc. Am I supposed to pay for my own copyright here? Get rid of your hands on my work!

Even though ThePirateBay might not have to close down immediately at 1st of July due to the legislators really f*cking up the thing they were aiming for not thinking about outlawing BT-like techniques, it is still quite horrid.

Things that has been discussed in other part of this thread, like breaking copy protection mechanisms, are being made illegal, however crappy they are (shift key anyone?). Heck - even spreading information about how to crack them is made illegal.

Also, the levy on unrecorded media for fair use private copies (works just like the canadian systems) is being RAISED and applied to NEW types of media, not inherently specifically for audio or video (as it was before). In theory according to the law, the fee for a DVDRW might be as high as SEK20 (~=$3), even though CopySwede probably will put a rebate on that amount... Still - it really doesn't make sense (you're still allowed to make a copy of your non-copyprotected stuff - good luck to find such with "DRM" CDs and legally bought wma files, and encrypted DVDs).

"Each year private individuals record a great amount of music, films and TV programmes on blank videocassettes, audiocassettes and CDs. Such widespread copying is a way of benefiting from the work of others without directly paying for it. This results in considerable losses for those who earn their living by creating music, films, and TV/radio programmes.

This is the reason for the regulations governing a blank tape levy in 26 k of the Swedish Copyright Act. The levy is designed to compensate, to some extent, the authors, performers or producers for the increasing amount of private copying of copyright protected material such as music, films and TV/radio programmes.

Importers and manufacturers are obliged to pay a blank tape levy of SEK 0.02 per recordable minute up to a maximum of SEK 6 per unit of blank audio or video media. The size of the levy is determined by law. According to 26 k the collection of the blank tape levy shall be done collectively by the representative organisations"

"Each year private individuals record a great amount of music, films and TV programmes on blank videocassettes, audiocassettes and CDs. Such widespread copying is a way of benefiting from the work of others without directly paying for it. This results in considerable losses for those who earn their living by creating music, films, and TV/radio programmes.

This is the reason for the regulations governing a blank tape levy in 26 k of the Swedish Copyright Act. The levy is designed to compensate, to some extent, the authors, performers or producers for the increasing amount of private copying of copyright protected material such as music, films and TV/radio programmes.

Importers and manufacturers are obliged to pay a blank tape levy of SEK 0.02 per recordable minute up to a maximum of SEK 6 per unit of blank audio or video media. The size of the levy is determined by law. According to 26 k the collection of the blank tape levy shall be done collectively by the representative organisations"