Brussels to cut levies on content copying (FT.com)

Consumer electronics companies such as Apple, Siemens ( - ), and Sony could save hundreds of millions of euros every year under plans by the to slash the copyright levies on products ranging from iPods to DVD players and mobile phones.

The levies were introduced in the 1960s to compensate artists for the fact that consumers used photo copiers and cassette recorders to make private copies of books, and records. They have to be paid by companies producing or distributing equipment that allows content to be copied.

Much to the annoyance of producers such as Nokia and Apple, national collecting societies are imposing the levy on an increasing number of products, including digital devices such as MP3 players, mobile phones and TV set-top boxes.

The amount of copyright levies raised in the has risen from EU500m ($628m, £341m) in 2001 to EU1.2bn last year, says a body representing the information technology industry. Other estimates are lower, but still register a marked rise.

According to an internal Commission document seen by the FT, Brussels is keen to rein in the collecting societies by exempting a swathe of goods from the levy.

Equipment that uses copy protection technology and products used only marginally to copy content - such as mobile phones - would be freed from the levy. Overall, the paper says "levies should be calculated on the basis of objective criteria", and that the body imposing the levy "should be obliged to prove" products are actually used for copying and to what extent.

The Commission hopes such an approach will end the current patchwork of conflicting national regimes. France, for example, applies a levy of EU51 on an iPod with 4GB memory. Germany has a levy of EU2.74 on the same product while the Netherlands and Belgium impose no levies on iPods at all.

The report notes: "In none of these countries is there any certainty as to what consumers actually undertake with this equipment."

The Commission has yet formally to sign off on the plans in the draft report, but officials expect Charlie McCreevy, internal market commissioner, to issue formal EU recommendations this year or early in 2007.

Though non-binding, Commission recommendations are usually widely-followed because they are backed up by the threat of tougher action should industry fail to comply.

The Commission's intentions were welcomed by technology companies but criticised by Gesac, the collecting societies' body.

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