While the music industry may consider U.S. court rulings against Napster's music-swapping bonanza to be landmarks in Internet age copyright law, most European artists don't see them as key to protecting their rights.
The legislation, which takes effect in each of the 15 EU nations after being ratified by the national parliaments, allows countries to add fees for each blank CD or CD burner sold '” mirroring existing laws in Italy and Germany, where additional charges of between 5% and 10% are already being assessed. |
The revenues are distributed among artists through national copyright societies, organizations that protect musicians' interests and exist in Europe but not the United States.
The fees, however, have done little to discourage music lovers from downloading music in Germany: Napster usage quadrupled in Germany to 1.4 million users in January from the previous June, according to analysts at NetValue, a worldwide researcher of Internet use.
I hate taxes...
Source: USAtoday.com
