Out-Law.com reports that: "The UK music industry has rejected the Government's proposal to legalise the transfer of music from CDs to MP3 players without a levy. It has asked for a tax on devices like Apple iPods which it says should compensate artists for the transfer."
I reckon there'd be close to 100% agreement that the law is an ass in this case, and that if you've bought a CD, you should legally have the right to make a personal copy on tape (if you're old enough) or a PC or digital music server or MP3 player. But, like America's RIAA, the UK's Music Business Group (which includes the BPI, AIM and MCPS-PRS) does not agree. It says:
We acknowledge that consumers clearly want to format shift and also place enormous value on the transferability of music. Music fans clearly deserve legal clarity in this area as well as the freedom to enjoy any music they have legitimately obtained. But it is not only music lovers who benefit here. Enormous value is derived by those technology companies and manufacturers who enable consumers to copy. UK creators and rights owners are legally entitled to share in this value - as they hold the exclusive right to reproduce their music - but are currently excluded from the value chain.
The easy way round this "market failure" is to have a levy on MP3 players, like the one the UK considered on blank cassette tapes.
As Out-Law points out, this is an option under the European Union's Copyright Directive. This says countries can ban private copying "or they can allow it on condition that they introduce a system that ensures 'fair compensation' for rights holders. Many countries charge a levy on blank media and devices as a form of compensation."
And a levy at least has the attraction of being relatively simple to impose....
Charles Arthur adds: the music industry's pursuit of an iPod tax, and its desire to prevent people ripping tracks, resembles what Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse and TalkTalk, called "the horse hasn't just left the stable - it's left town, got married and had kids." But he was referring to the BPI's legal letter to ISPs two weeks ago. The deadline on that expires later this week - after which ISPs are threatened with "injunctions". That ticking is the clock...
