Gęsicka Daria Katarzyna, Much ado about the levy schemes

Private copying and reprography levies have been on the target of the European Commission's on-going initiatives for quite some time now as well as the cause for quite a turmoil in the realm of copyrights and related rights. Like in the Shakespearian comedy, there are different vested interests at play and they need to be reconciled. However, unlike in the play, a mere rumour or an overheard declaration of love will not do the trick in this case. Since the vested interests, including collective management societies representing creative industry, manufacturers and importers of blank media as well as reprography operators and users who are unwilling to pay more, are at war, the grounds for harmony in the system, where right-holders receive justified remuneration and the users make use of works or the subjects of related rights within the scope of private use exception, have been shaken. The reason for the shake is not, however, the clash of interests, but the fact that the foundations...