European consumers are being forced to pay usage rights on legal copy-protected music downloads multiple times because of outdated private copy levies, according to a study.
The Business Software Alliance issued a report Thursday urging that the extra taxation that most European countries have added to music downloads be scrapped. The BSA said the rise in online content protected by digital rights management (DRM) technology makes the need for private copy levies obsolete. These levies were originally designed as a tax on people making private copies of tapes and CDs they had bought.
But online content is increasingly DRM-protected. Under DRM, things such as music downloads carry a royalty at the point of purchase, so a percentage of the payment goes directly to artists and labels.
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