Japanese Music Industry Wants a 5% iPod Tax

[Charles]

Japanese music industry calls for an 'iPod tax'
In the United States, recording labels want a bigger slice of Apple's success in digital music by seeking higher prices on downloaded songs. Japan's music industry has a different idea: putting fees on iPods.
The industry has asked the Japanese government to charge a royalty, to be added to the retail price of portable digital music players like Apple's iPod, which has been explosively popular here. Money earned from the fee, likely to be 2 percent to 5 percent of the retail price, would go to recording companies, songwriters and artists as compensation for lost revenue from home copying.
It is a familiar story of vested interests' feeling threatened by new technologies. Like their U.S. and European counterparts, Japanese recording companies are struggling to catch up with the Internet and the advances in digital recording technology.
But in Japan, the proposed fee has also touched off an unusual public battle over the influence that industry groups here still wield over the government and economy, the second-largest after the United States.
As a powerful political lobby, Japan's recording industry expected to get its way when it first asked for the fee last fall. Instead, its proposal remains stalled in one of Japan's normally rubber-stamp government committees. Meanwhile, the media mock the fee as the "iPod tax." ...More...

When will governments learn? You just don't fuck with peoples' iPods. The Canadian government tried taxing iPods, consumers sued and they had to refund every cent of tax they'd collected.

[Ptyx]

It can happen. It happened in France with the recordable cds that are now taxed due to intense lobbying from the music industry. And yes, the tax is given back to the music industry.
The next step is to tax the hard drives so the ipod will be included as well.
This is of course totally unfair since most hard drives are not used to store music stolen from the internet.
The thing is the music industry in europe has a lot of leverage. Most of it is domestic companies while hard drive producers are foreign for the most and not nearly as well organised as the music industry is.
If you add to that the tradition that had France to support the arts it's pretty easy for them to pass such taxes.
They also tried to make the internet providers responsible for the illegal downloads of their customers.
It didn't work, but it was a close call.

[electrocat]

this is bullshit. Should they tax our computers or our car stereos or our CD players? we use all those to listen to music. Bullshit!

[IkemenTommy]

More reasons to switch to alternative methods like P2P and file sharing. The music industry just doesn't get it why they aren't generating enough revenues.
BRING THE COST DOWN
Then *maybe* we'll start buying music again.. and after the "artists" get their acts straight and produce good music once again.

[Charles]

...And yes, the tax is given back to the music industry...

And no, none of it actually gets into the hands of musicians. It all goes to the "music industry" that needs the money for cocaine and whores.

[hodensaft]

The music industry just doesn't get it why they aren't generating enough revenues.
BRING THE COST DOWN

Yeah, jesus. I had issues with American CD prices when I still lived there. And Sony expects me to fork over 3,000 yen for a damned album here?

[IkemenTommy]

Like Charles says, the artists make dick out of the cd sales and none of the ignorant artists ever come out and blame the record labels. If they really want to make cash, they need to go on tours and do whatever. That's really where the money is. Every year, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, and all the other groups and bands come up big through live events and not cd sales. Sorry, those are examples of American bands but the concept is the same.

[Greji]

...And yes, the tax is given back to the music industry...

And no, none of it actually gets into the hands of musicians. It all goes to the "music industry" that needs the money for cocaine and whores.

Thank God they're spending it on the essentials!

[Ptyx]

...And yes, the tax is given back to the music industry...

And no, none of it actually gets into the hands of musicians. It all goes to the "music industry" that needs the money for cocaine and whores.

There's actually something even more scandalous going on in France. We have this organisation called SACEM, which defends the copyrights of author/composer in the music field. If you make a song and it is broadcast in any way this organisation is the one that will get the money back to you.
Nice eh ?
Now let's say you're a foreign artist who is not registered at la SACEM because your label is too small to care and well it's a french stuff so why care anyway. Well the SACEM will get money from the broadcatsers of your song, but since you're not registered with it instead of trying to find who you are they take the cash to the 10 best selling domestic artists in France.
What this mean is that if, for example, a radio broadcast a Merzbow track (i'm pretty sure he's not registered) they will have to pay a fee to the SACEM that will be reversed to the domestic Britney Spears.
That means that Céline Dion, which must be considered domestic since she sings in french there, probably did earn money from a Merzbow piece.

[fatslug]

I still buy all my cds even in this age of technology !

WHY ? because im too fukn lazy to download shit !

[Docteur G]

Absolutely right Ptyx, that's why there's some trying others ways to share or spread music&more as : http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en/
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/copyleft.html

[IkemenTommy]

I still buy all my cds even in this age of technology !

WHY ? because im too fukn lazy to download shit !

Wouldn't you be too lazy to go to the store instead? It only takes me 10 minutes to typically download an entire album... of course I am saying theoretically IF I want to download such thing.

[electrocat]

I still buy all my cds even in this age of technology !

WHY ? because im too fukn lazy to download shit !

thats funny because it takes about 5 minutes to type in a search in limewire or Itunes store as opposed to at least 30 minutes to walk/drive to a store and another 30 to check out

[ichigo partygirl]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/14/business/ptend15.php

this is a further article to the one orginally posted

The End User: One iPod, two taxes
By Victoria Shannon International Herald Tribune

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2005
PARIS So now Japan wants a piece of the Pod. Welcome to the rest of the world: Most countries in Europe already throw some kind of "copying" tax on top of digital music players, like the Apple iPod, as well as other storage devices that can hold copyrighted material, like blank CDs.
The taxes add an extra 2 percent to 5 percent to the cost of the gadget.....

[Charles]

iPod copyright fees on hold

Buyers of iPods and other portable digital music players with hard-disk drives are getting another reprieve from paying a surcharge for fees on copyrighted music at purchase.
A subcommittee under the Copyright Subdivision of the education ministry's Council for Cultural Affairs is expected to release a report Friday concerning the merits of collecting the fees to cover royalties when some recordings are made for private use.
So far, the only decision covered in the report is that the entire fee system should be reviewed by fiscal 2007, the report says.
Changes in ministerial orders were discussed for the current fiscal year, with the aim of starting to collect the fees next April. But after much discussion, subcommittee members had not ironed out all the issues, sources said.
Currently, a copyright fee for private-use recordings is tacked on when digital recording devices, such as DVD players, are sold. The fees are then distributed among copyright holders.
In fiscal 2003, 3.2 billion yen in fees was collected. If the fee system were expanded to include portable music players, estimates are that each player sold would carry a fee of several hundred yen.
Under the government's plan to promote the protection of intellectual property rights, a revision of the entire system regarding personal-use recordings was to have been made by fiscal 2007. In that revision, plans are expected to call for expanding the recording fee system to cover all digital players with hard-disk drives.
Critics of the system said it was unfair to expand the fee across-the-board since that would mean collecting money from individuals who may not record copyrighted material.
There was also discussion within government circles over whether a simple revision in a ministerial order is sufficient to expand the fee system or whether legal revisions had to be made. That's because the change could have a big effect on people's daily lives.

[IkemenTommy]

http://tiftykk.blogzine.jp/big_kahuna_burger/files/iPod_sazae.mov

[dingosatemybaby]

http://tiftykk.blogzine.jp/big_kahuna_burger/files/iPod_sazae.mov

Not bad. Sazae-san is much more bearable stripped of the usual uber-depressing terebe theme song. But when will the truth come out? Sazae-san and her common-law husband have been dismembering family members in the bathtub to cash in on their life insurance policies.

-dingo
-at least that's what the weeklies have been hinting, and they don't publish anything that's not true
-gets the impression the proprieter of the Big Kahuna Burger blog is not unfamiliar with the work of QT.

[Taro Toporific]

http://tiftykk.blogzine.jp/big_kahuna_burger/files/iPod_sazae.mov

But when will the truth come out? Sazae-san ...

[Charles]

[Mulboyne]

According to the Asahi (Japanese), an ipod tax is back on the table. The Agency for Cultural Affairs is due to make the proposal after investigating the issue for four years. The electronics industry is vehemently opposed.

[American Oyaji]

http://tiftykk.blogzine.jp/big_kahuna_burger/files/iPod_sazae.mov

I never saw that before!!! That's brilliant!! And funny as all get out.

[Mulboyne]

According to the Asahi (Japanese), an ipod tax is back on the table.

The Mainichi has an English report from AP based on the Asahi article:

Japan to propose copyright fees on iPods, digital hard disk recorders

The Japanese government will propose this week a plan to charge copyright royalties on sales of iPods and other portable digital music players, as well as on digital hard disk recorders, a major daily newspaper reported Tuesday. The Agency of Cultural Affairs has not yet decided the amount of the fee, but it would likely be around 100 yen per device for an annual total about 1 billion yen. The proceeds would go to recording companies, songwriters and artists. Older devices, such as minidisk and DVD recorders, are already subject to a copyright fee. Representatives for the agency and Apple Japan Inc. could not be reached for comment, as offices were closed Tuesday for the Golden Week holidays. Despite an aggressive push by the Japanese recording industry, a similar proposal to impose an "iPod tax" fell apart in December 2005 after a government committee failed to reach consensus on the issue. Electronics makers are expected to mount strong opposition to the new levy, as they did on the earlier proposal. The inclusion of hard disk recorders in the proposal comes less than a month before the start of new digital content protection rules in Japan. Under the "Dubbing 10" standard, Japanese consumers will be able to make up to nine copies of a recorded digital TV broadcast.

[Tsuru]

Ptyx is absolutely right. The music industry is basically saying "Hey, remember how we told you not to download stuff because it's hurting our artists and keeping new ones off our labels? Well that was all a crock of shit, all we really want is your money."

Ironically the internet is the best launch pad for new and upcoming talent in history. Better than wat the labels ever did for them anyway.

[Mulboyne]

Fox: Japan to scrap iPod copyright fee

Japan will stop pushing for legislation to charge royalties on the sales of iPods and other portable digital music players, giving in to opposition from electronics makers, officials said Thursday. What is being dubbed here as "the iPod tax" has been tossed around for years. The tax would allow about 1 percent to 3 percent of the price of a digital recording device to go to recording companies, songwriters and artists. The Agency for Cultural Affairs had hoped to submit legislation to Parliament as early as this fall. But amid a flurry of criticism from electronics makers, a meeting of a panel studying the proposal failed to reach any agreement Thursday, agency official Masafumi Kiyota said. "At this point, there is virtually no hope for getting the legislation passed," he said. The panel agreed to continue talking, but no date has been set, Kiyota said.

Despite an aggressive push by the Japanese recording industry, a similar proposal to impose an "iPod tax" fell apart in December 2005. The cultural agency proposed a compromise in May to charge only portable digital music players, such as iPods, and digital hard disk recorders. But the manufacturers resisted, saying more equipment could be added as a source for royalties. Older devices, such as minidisk and DVD recorders, are already subject to copyright fees in Japan. The payments are included in the price tag so most shoppers aren't even aware they're paying it. Kiyota said both consumers and electronics makers should be held responsible for paying copyright fees, and the proposed bill follows a global standard. Such systems exist in European nations. Opponents say the system is an obsolete way of monitoring purchases of digital music and other works at a time when they're growing more widespread. Others say consumers are getting charged twice because they are often already paying royalties on digital purchases.