Japanese record labels have been pushing for an "iPod tax", a levy between 2% and 5% of the retail cost of flash and HDD-based MP3 players. However, today a government panel decided against expanding the current levies to cover iPods and other MP3 players and also an increasing number of similar new gadgets that use flash memory and hard disks. Similar requests for levies on top of the retail price of MP3 players have been denied also in many other countries.
In Japan, a royalty was introduced in 1993 that covers disc-based media, such as MiniDisk and CD recorders and also tape recorders/players. This adds about 400 yen to the price of MiniDisk recorders and 4 yen per MiniDisk for example. The levy is then distributed to copyrighted holders. This is intended to cover for "fair use" (such as copying your music from one media to another) and for possible piracy.
The panel also commented that not enough was being done to make the general public aware of the extra levies on some things they buy and what they are for.
Sources:
The Register
Japan Today
The panel also commented that not enough was being done to make the general public aware of the extra levies on some things they buy and what they are for.
Sources:
The Register
Japan Today
