Activities of Christian ENGSTRÖM related to 2013/2114(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Private copying levies (short presentation)
Amendments (43)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
- having regard to the impact assessment accompanying the document "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on collective management of copyright and related rights and multi-territorial licensing of rights in musical works for online uses in the internal market
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 a (new)
Citation 9 a (new)
- having regard to the Working Document of the Committee on Legal Affairs "Copyright in the music and audiovisual sectors", approved on 29 June 2011,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas culture and artistic creation form the bedrock of the European identity past and present, and will play a vital role in themake manifest the fabric of economic and social development of the European Union now, and in the future;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas cultural content plays a pivotal role in the digital economy, whereas Europe's digital growth will depend in future on having a varied supply of high- quality cultural content, and whereas it has emerged from consultations and several independent surveys that the cultural and creative sectors are facing common challenges from digitisation and globalisation, along with funding problemse and artistic creation is integral to the digital economy, whereas expression of both high-end and mundane cultural content relies on equal access to Europe's digital growth, and whereas it has emerged from consultations that the European digital market still has not delivered on the promises of effective distribution, fair remuneration to creators and of fair and effective distribution of income within the cultural sector in general, and that EU-level action is needed to resolve these problems;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas digitisation is having a huge impact on the way in which cultural goodidentities are being producexpressed, distributed, marketed and consum and developed, and whereas lower distribution costsbarriers for participation and the appearance of new distribution channels can facilitates access to creative works and culture and improve the circulation of those works around the world, discovery and re-discovery of culture and artistic creation around the world and provides opportunities for creators and artists;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the proposal for a Directive on the collective management of copyright and related rights currently being discussed reinforces that approach to the management of copyright, placing requires particular emphasis on the transparency of the flows of remuneration collected, distributed and paid to rightholders by collecting societies, including for private copying;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas under Directive 2001/29 /EC, Member States may provide for an exception or limitation to the reproduction right for certain types of reproduction of audio, visual and audio-visual material for private use, accompanied by fair remuneration, and may allow consumers in countries that have introduced that limitation to copy their music and audio- visual collections from one medium or type of multimedia material to another freely and as frequently as they wish, without se eking authorisation from the rightholders, provided this is for their private use; whereas any levies should be calculatedthe pervasive nature and ubiquitous presence of digital works makes calculation of levies on the basis of the possible harm to the rightholders resulting from the private copying act ian questionimpossible task;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the sum total of private copying levies collected in 23 of the 28 EU Member has more than tripled since Directive 2001/29/EC came into force and, according to the Commission's estimates, now stands at over EUR 600 million, and whereas this constitutes a considerable amouless than 17% of the amount EUR 3.6 billion worth of liabilities to rightholders major collective management for the artistsganisations had accumulated in 2010;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas these levies only constitute a small proportion of the turnover of manufacturers and importers of, in some cases, constitute a substantial percentage of the price consumers pay for traditional and digital recording media and material;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas media and material prices do not vary according to the different rates of private copying levy applied across the Union,; whereas manufacturers cross- subside levies across the EU in cases where levies are a very significant proportion of the purchase price of a device; and whereas the abolition of private copying levies in Spain in 2012 has had no impact on media and material prices;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas disparities exist between the various models and collection rates for private copying levies and between their impact on consumers and the single market; and whereas a European framework should be created that guarantees that equivalent conditions apply to rightholders, consumers, manufacturers and importers of equipment and service providers across the Union until levies have been phased out;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Points out that the cultural sector provides 5 millions of jobs in the EU and 2.6 % of its GDP, that it is one of the main drivers for growth in Europe and a wellspring for new and non-relocatable jobs, and that it stimulates innovation and offers an effective means of combating the current recessioncontributes to its GDP, and is therefore in need of a modern legal framework adapted to the digital market;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Notes that only some Member States have opted to introduce an exception for private copying, with compensation for right holders, and that the cultural sector is a strong driving force for growth also in Member States which have not opted to impose private copy levies;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Recalls that copyright law should balance the interests of inter alia creators and consumers; in this context considers that all European consumers should have a right to make private copies of legally acquired content;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Therefore calls upon the Commission to present a legislative proposal to review Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society including a provision to fully harmonize exceptions and limitations with regards, inter alia, to private copying;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Considers further that private copying of legally acquired content constitutes a normal use of the acquired products or services by the consumer which does not harm the legitimate interests of right holders and which should thus not warrant any compensation;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises that in times of budget austerity, private copying levies constitute a vital source of revenue for the cultural sector, and particularly for the performance artssubstantial cost for consumers without providing a socially accepted source of revenue for the cultural sector;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes that private copying levies currently constitute a source of income which is of varying importance for different categories of right holders and that its importance varies significantly between Member States;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Believes that the private copying levy system is a virtuous system that balances the right to copying for private use with fair remuneration to rightholders, and that it is a system worth preservingn obsolete old fashioned system that should be phased out to give room for fair remuneration of artists and the right to make copies for private use;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises that the major disparities between national systems for the collection of levies, especially as regards the types of product subject to the levy and the rates of levy, can distorts competition and give rise to ‘forum shopping’ within the internal market, incites double payment of levies, impedes the proper functioning of the internal market and deteriorates the support for copyright among citizens;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Invites the Member States to decide on a common definition of thephase out private copying levy,ies and to look for common ground as regards to which products should not be subject to the levy and to harmonise the negotiating arrangement for the rates applicable toagreeing on the rates of decrease of private copying levy rates; calls on the Commission to facilitate that process;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2
Subheading 2
Single collection procedure, clearer consumer information and more efficient reimbursement procedures during the phase out period
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Considers that the private copying levy should apply to allnot be extended to include new materials, media and services whose value resides in their private recording and storage capacity;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Considers that private copying levies should be payable by manufacturers or importers; notes that, if the levy were transferred to retailers, this would result in an excessivthe final retailer and not the manufacturer as a short and medium term measure to reach the goal of a completely phased out levy system; notes that, if the levy were transferred to retailers, this would support the development of new technologies for content delivery which reduce administrative burden for small and medium-sized distribution companies ands well as collective rights management organisations;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recommends that, in the case of cross- border transactions, private copying levies be collected in the Member State in which thefinal customer resides; notes that if a product is placed on the market and that the product thenit shall be allowed to circulate freely in the internal market without being subject to additional levies;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Takes the view that, accordingly, private copying levies canshould not be collected by a collective management organisation of aone Member State if remuneration of the same kind has already been collected in another Member State;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Member States, in consultation with all stakeholders, to simplify procedures for setting thethe phasing out of levies in such a way as to ensure fairness and objectivity;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Takes the view that consumers must be informed of the exact amount of the levy paid by them; urges the Commission and Member States accordingly, in consultation with manufacturers, importers, retailers and consumer associations, to ensure that this information is indicated on packaging and, as far as possible,explicit on invoices and receipts issued to consumers at the retailer level;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Urges Member States to adopt more transparent exemption arrangementrules regarding professional uses to ensure that they are exempt, also in practice, from private copy levies in compliance with CJEU case law;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Member States to introduce efficient arrangements for the reimbursement of private copy levies where the media in question is used for professional purposes; ensure that private copy levies never have to be paid where the media in question is used for professional purposes and that various arrangements for the reimbursement of levies paid for professional users are replaced with systems which guarantee that these users are not liable to pay the levy in the first place;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3
Subheading 3
Transparency regarding allocation of revenue and cultural policy
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Member States to earmark at least 25% of revenue from private copying levies to promote the creative and performance artssmooth phasing out of the system as a whole;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls on the Member States to publish reports on the allocation of proceeds in open resources format with interpretable data the smooth phasing out of the system as a whole;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Points out that private copying exemption arrangemgives citizents enable consumersthe right to copy freely their musical and audio-visual material from one medium or type of multimedia material to another without the need to seek the authorisation of rightholders, provided that this is for private use;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls for the elimination of technical protection measures causing an imbalance between freedom to copy and fair remuneration for rightholders under private copying arrangemenwhich would impede the freedom of citizens to make use of their legal right to make copies for personal use as it also undermines a fair remuneration of artists;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Observes that, despite permanent access to online works, download storage and copying of works for offline use is increasing with increasing, storage and private copying for offline use is continuingcapacity of storage media; takes the view that a private copying levy system cannot therefore be replaced by a licencing systemupheld and has to be phased out;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Notes that the modern digital economy is providing a large multitude of online services where some services technically require copying of the content and others do not and where some of these services would thus be subject to private copying levies and others would not; takes the view that a private copying levy system should therefore be phased out in order not to discriminate between services;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses that, as for online services, contractual authorisations cannot be allowed to prevail to the detriment of private copying exception arrangem licensing provisions should not limit the legal rights of citizens to make private copies of legally acquired contents;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Takes the view that private copies of protected works made using new cloud computing technology may have the samenew purposes as compared to those made using traditional and/or digital recording media and materials; considers that these copies should be taken into account by thesuch new media and services should not be included in current private copying compensation mechanisms;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls on the Commission to assess the impact on the private copying system of the use of cloud computing technology for the private recording and storage of protected works, so as to determine how these private copies of protected works should be taken into account by theexcluded from private copying compensation mechanisms;