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Australian Gov't Lobbied To Implement Media Levies

Posted by timothy on from the back-scratching-time dept.

TheScream writes "Screenrights has been activly promoting its proposal for a CD-R DVD-R levy (similar to that implemented in Canada, as previous reported on /.) with a 5 minute interview on popular Australian breakfast television show Today. News.com.au reports that Screenrights and APRA "...want a recording levy of between 3 per cent and 10 per cent..." and includes highly debateable mis-truths such as "Every kid does it, so let's facilitate some standards in the marketplace.""

4 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. Same opinion on... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have the same opinion on marijuana. Every kid does it so lets facilitate some standrds in the marketplace. Time for legalization ands quality control. You know the makers of marijuana should levy a tax on the RIAA. Without drugs, there wouldn't be as much quality music in the world. I think Mrs. Rosen should write a fat check to Columbia right now.

  2. Over forty countries have tariffed CD blanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting
    In the U.S., naturally, we get no rights in return for the tariff, although in some countries copying copyrighted works is permissible to some extent in exchange for the tariff (in Canada and Germany, for example, you are free to copy music that you are borrowing from a friend or library to a disc for personal use, but Napster-type MP3 serving is illegal). I'd bet the U.K. has this type of tariff, given that U.S. copyright laws were almost completely crafted to fall in line with the European laws concerning copyright (i.e.: Berne), which is amusing given the amount of fingerpointing going the other way for things like the DMCA.

    Australia will almost definitely roll over to this type of law given their policies in the past, so anyone living there might want to push their representatives to at least give you something in return.

  3. Levy the AOL CDs! by Fazlazen · · Score: 5, Funny

    What they really need to do is levy the AOL CDs that keep clogging my mailbox! Now that's a law I would get behind!

  4. Could be improved by Pseudonym · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Speaking as ain Australian, I am willing to support the proposal on three conditions:

    1. People who do not infringe copyright get a rebate.
    2. Independent artists get a cut of the levy.
    3. In return, we get the legal right to pirate CDs and DVDs.

    I've never copied a audio CD or DVD in my life. I have made compilation CDs for two schoolteachers based on CDs that they own for educational purposes (I believe this is legal), but I'm willing to try if this becomes law. I promise to make it fair by adding up the levies that I have paid on blank CDs and only pirating CDs worth up to the value of the levy. When I've effectively paid for a CD, I figure I deserve a copy of it.

    What do you think, APRA?

    Incidentally, I'm not quite sure how you calculate what is a fair levy to pay for losses which are, in the admission of the CEO of Screenrights, "incalculable". I'd like to see how they managed to work it out.

    --
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