site.btaInternational Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations: Levy Systems for Copying for Private Purposes Needed

Levy systems for copying for private purposes are needed in Bulgaria, Anita Huss-Eckerhult, CEO and Secretary General of the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO), told BTA on Tuesday. Huss-Eckerhult was among the participants in the roundtable "33 years later: The big conversation about private copying in Bulgaria". 

"IFRRO represents collective rights management organisations worldwide. We have over 160 members in more than 90 countries representing over 2,000,000 authors and publishers worldwide. Some of these members get compensations through levies copying for private purposes. This is also the case in Europe, where a European Union directive exists.” Articles 5.2.(a) and 5.2.(b) state that exceptions and limitations for reprography (5.2(a)) and copying for private purposes (5.2.(b)) may be introduced “provided that the rightholders receive fair compensation”.

“Our members, who operate in the field of print media, manage both systems, which is different from the music and audiovisual industry where only the private copying system exists," Huss-Eckerhult said.

Asked what the benefits of private copying are from a financial point of view, she responded: "We have done a lot of research on this. In the past, we have also done a study together with the World Intellectual Property Organisation on the financial importance of monetary compensation for authors and publishers. The study showed that over 60% of authors' income can come from this system. The percentage represents a significant proportion of the funds needed to produce their works. This is also key to the availability of content in local languages, be it educational texts, fiction or material for the visual sector. 

"Unfortunately, as far as I understood from the round table, the system does not work in Bulgaria. Article 26, paragraph 10 of the Copyright Act provides for so many exceptions that virtually no one can license, especially in the text and image copying sector. This is a very serious problem, which makes it clear that authors and publishers in Bulgaria do not receive remuneration from copying for private purposes, which means that they are unable to create works either, and probably live in very poor conditions. Another important part of the main functions of the copying for private purposes compensation system is that the funds can also be used for social programmes, such as supplementing pension funds, promotional or even cultural events. Many of these elements are of great importance, not only for the creators, but also for society as a whole, especially the government," Hus-Eckerhult said.

Organizers of the roundtable were Musicautor and the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, who also commissioned a survey which was presented at the event.