CD burners make the copying of music and other CDs both cheap
and simple. At present, the German government levies a fee on
manufacturers of CD burners, as it has done for many years on
makers of photocopiers. The fees are intended to reimburse artists
for their losses due to copyright infringement by charging the
makers of the equipment used by the infringers. The manufacturers
argue that they are being used as scapegoats. Last week’s case was
brought by HP against the German government on behalf of the
industry.
HP argued that the German government’s policy of flat fees
cannot be applied to digital technologies as it only applies to
photocopiers and tape recorders. It said copyrighted materials can
be better protected in the modern age through individual licensing
and per-use fees.
However, the court’s preliminary ruling orders HP to disclose
how many of the devices it has sold in Germany since 1998. The
court will use the figure to set the level of fees payable.
