Yesterday we reported about a decision of the Dutch government that has resulted in a copyright fee which Dutch consumers will have to pay when they purchase computers, smartphones, set top boxes, audio and video equipment and HDDs which can be as high as €5,- ($6.5) for a new PC. Today the content owners, represented by the organisations Buma/Stemra and Stichting Thuiskopie (translates to foundation of home copy), responded to the new legislation. According to them the maximum of € 5,- isn't high enough.
That's because the total income of the fee is estimated at € 27 million which is equal to the amount that was also earned by the content owners with previous legislation, introduced in 2005. Back then the copyright fee was required to be paid on purchases of blank media and MP3 players and according to the content owners, consumers copy much more now than in 2005. The € 27 million is still much more than the € 12.1 million of losses due to home copying which were estimated by accountancy firm PriceWaterHouseCoopers.
