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Wed, 16 Apr 2008 UK music industry demands iPod tax

UK music industry bosses continue to demand ever more government protection

Jonny Evans

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UK music industry groups are pushing for a levy to be applied on sales of iPods in exchange for granting music lovers the right to rip music from their own CD collection legitimately.

While CD ripping is commonplace, it remains something that's technically not allowed under UK law, reports Out-Law.com.

The recent Gowers Report into copyright suggested this law be changed to legitimise the practice, but music industry groups are demanding the levy against iPods and other devices requiring or enabling music to be transferred between formats.

The Music Business Group (MBG) is an umbrella group of trade bodies representing music managers, songwriters, publishers and performers. It has rejected plans detailed within a consultation document from the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) to allow the transfer without any extra charge.

"Enormous value is derived from the transferability of music," it said in its submission. "Last year alone, over 20 million MP3-capable portable devices were sold in the UK, and over 90% of music on the average MP3 player is music that has been copied."

"UK creators and right holders are legally entitled to benefit from this value. At present, this value is enjoyed by both consumers and technology companies while creators and right holders are effectively excluded from any value. This constitutes market failure," it said.

The Gowers report instead suggested rights holders raised prices in order to factor in the claimed cost of transferring music between formats.

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