The private copying levy

Every year, private individuals record huge amounts of music, films and TV programmes. Private copying has now largely moved from cassette and videotape to recordable CDs and DVDs, MP3 players, hard disc drive video players and set-topboxes with built-in storage capacity.

To compensate authors, performers and producers to some extent for the copying of copyright material for private use allowed under the law, a system of compensation is provided for in Article 26, subsections k-m of the Swedish Copyright Act. Similar systems to the one introduced in Sweden on 1 January 1999 exist in most other European countries.

Under the system, importers and manufacturers are required to pay a private copying levy on their imports of products especially designed for private copying, such as recordable CDs, DVDs, analogue video and audio cassettes and video players and MP3 players with integral storage capacity.

According to the legislation, the levy for analogue products is SEK 0.025 per recordable minute. In the case of products capable of multiple digital recordings, such as CD-RWs/DVD-RWs and MP3 players and video players with integral storage capacity, the levy is SEK 4 per gigabyte of storage capacity. The levy for other digital recordable media, such as CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, is SEK 2.50 per gigabyte of storage capacity. The law allows business enterprises to request a reduction in the amounts payable in certain specifically defined circumstances.

No levy whatsoever is payable on products that are exported or are intended for the use of the functionally disabled, or on those that are used professionally. According to the Copyright Act, the private copying levy is to be collected through representative organizations, on a collective basis.

Under a partnership agreement between Copyswede, FRF (representing the film producers), IFPI (representing the phonogram producers) and UBOS (representing the broadcasting organizations), Copyswede collects the levy on behalf of all these organizations.

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