Landmark judgement for the IT industry – German Appeal Court says no to copyright levies on printers
Printer manufacturers will not have to pay any copyright levies for their products. The Court of Appeal of Dusseldorf rejected a lawsuit filed by Verwertungsgesellschaft Wort (VG Wort – German collecting society of authors and publishers) on Tuesday, 23 January 2007.
VG Wort had argued that printers could be used to reproduce copyrighted works, and claimed a levy of up to €300 per printer, payable with retrospective effect from 2001. The judges have now stopped this attempt, which would have substantially raised the prices of printers.
The amount at stake for the printer manufacturers, Canon, Epson, Kyocera and Xerox, is more than €400 million, according to estimates of Alexander Haudan and Markus Wirtz of international law firm Taylor Wessing, who act for the manufacturers (case no.: I-20 U 38/06).
Markus Wirtz comments:
"This is the first time a German court has rejected a general claim for copyright levies. Apparently, the judges supported our standpoint that printers, being mere output devices, will not be used for copying purposes."
Alexander Haudan comments:
"The judgement is a victory also for the consumers who were facing significant price increases from the levy".
VG Wort asserts copyright levies on printers, based on Sec. 54 of the German Copyright Act. VG Wort alleges that printers can, in principle, be used to print out copyrighted works and therefore claims levies on each printer that would be distributed to the authors.
Another dispute revolving around parallel legal issues between printer manufacturer Hewlett Packard and VG Wort is already pending with the Federal Court of Justice. The lower courts, the District Court and Court of Appeals in Stuttgart, had found in favour of VG Wort. In a similar vein, German courts already held that copyright levies on scanners and PCs were legitimate.
In the case that has now been decided, the Dusseldorf Court of Appeal fully dismissed the lawsuit filed by VG Wort against Epson, Kyocera and Xerox (the Canon case is tried separately). The judgment is not yet final; an appeal on points of law could be lodged with the Federal Court of Justice.
The Dusseldorf judgement has a political dimension. The German legislator is discussing an amendment of the German Copyright Act which would foresee a general cap on copyright levies for all IT devices of 5% of the street price, seeking a compromise solution between the IT industry and the collecting societies. The European Commission is also looking into the proliferation of copyright levies in the digital world.
Notes to editors
Background note:
Taylor Wessing lawyers Alexander Haudan and Dr. Markus Wirtz represent Canon, Epson, Kyocera and Xerox. Alexander Haudan is advising on the copyright issues of the dispute, while Dr. Markus Wirtz is handling the competition and EC law side. They are supported by associate Edgar Panizza. Taylor Wessing is a leading international law firm with over 600 lawyers, and has gained an outstanding reputation especially for media/IT work.
For more information please contact Claire Treacy at Taylor Wessing in London:
Tel: +44 (0)20 7300 4925
Email: c.treacy@taylorwessing.com
Taylor Wessing is a leading law firm providing legal support for commercial organisations doing business in Europe. Based in Belgium, France, Germany and the UK, Taylor Wessing provides the full range of legal services to major corporations and growing enterprises. Taylor Wessing boasts a strong reputation in the corporate, finance and real estate sectors alongside in-depth experience across the full range of legal services including intellectual property and technology, tax, litigation & dispute resolution, employment & pensions and private client.