Smartphones will become more likely? The Ministry of Culture wants to introduce a fee for all new devices

The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage wants to update the list of so -called “Clean carriers”. To this end, on Wednesday, 30-day public consultations of the draft amendment to the regulation on reprographic fees began.

Reprographic fee, i.e. the fee for the so -called “Pure carriers” – e.g. empty CDs, pendrives or disks, is a way to pay creators for the fact that their works can be legally copied for their own use, e.g. at home. Thanks to her, artists, writers or musicians get some compensation for private copying their works. Such compensation requires the law of the European Union, but it does not have one form imposed. In Poland, such a mechanism has been operating since 1994. It was last updated in 2008, when notebooks, video pocket cameras and e-book readers were becoming more and more popular.

According to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Revenues from reprographic fees in Poland are among the lowest in Europewhich is a consequence of the validity of outdated regulations in this area, which to this day as “clean media” recognize magnetters, magnetovides, faxes, mp3 players and CD recorders.

As the ministry pointed out in a press release, For 17 years, digital technology and reality have changed radically, and the regulation on reprographic fees continues to take into account such “clean media” such as VHS, MP3, Fax or DVD recorders.

The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage wants balance in the turnover of devices with extended functions, Re -registration of the fees by introducing a fee of 1 percent. for all new devices, and for others lowering it to a maximum of 2 percent. and simplification of the system, among others By reducing the number of devices and media covered by a fee from 65 to 19. It also proposes to charge a fee directly from manufacturers and equipment importers.

The Ministry of Culture estimates that thanks to the amendment to artists, an additional PLN 150 – 200 million may hit every year.

ZZP/ ASZW/