Private Copying: Politicians Oppose Extending to Refurbished Smartphones | iGeneration

The Private Copying Remuneration Commission is taking a step towards extending the levy to repackaged products. According to Next INpact, the commission ruled out carrying out a market study, to estimate the consequences on the economy of reconditioning, and planned to vote on the questionnaire for a “flash study” on March 16. Representatives of rights holders want to accelerate the movement to prevent the organization of a political front against this extension of private copying.

While Copie France has sued the main French players in refurbishment, without a warning shot, the debates are still raging in the corridors of the Ministry of Culture. By hearing the representatives of the State Secretariat for the Digital Transition and Electronic Communications and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, on February 2, the Commission for the remuneration of private copying was able to measure the extent of the disagreements.

This commission placed under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture and directed by Jean Musitelli, formerly a member of Hadopi, is responsible for setting the scale of the fee. Rights holders like to present it as a joint commission, but consumer associations have deserted, tired of losing arbitration after arbitration. There are therefore twelve representatives of rights holders (including ten members of Copie France), but only three representatives of consumer associations, who interviewed Antoine Darodes.

Cédric O's chief of staff, who has just presented the "digital and environment" roadmap, recalled the need "to promote reuse". While Copie France ensures that the "economy of reconditioned media is neither green, nor circular, nor a provider of jobs", Antoine Darodes wanted to restore the truth on the face of French industry, as shown by the minutes of the meeting:

Despite this clarification, Bruno Boutleux, the president of Copie France, persists in believing that the average price of a refurbished smartphone “is rather around 400 €”. However, as Jean-Christophe Estoudre, president of Smaaart, confirmed to us, “the 64 GB iPhone 8 is the reference product in refurbished today”. A smartphone sold for €280 – twice as expensive as Android smartphones that support more modest players, such as resource centers and social and solidarity economy companies, which often sell devices for less than €100. Bruno Boutleux accuses the market place BackMarket, which would control “90% of the market” and of which more than half of the resellers would be foreign. BackMarket certainly dominates the market, but half of the sellers are French, and nearly two-thirds of the phones come from France and Europe.

To spare the goat and the cabbage, the State Secretariat for the Digital Transition offers three avenues:

At this stage, the representatives of the rights holders seem to remain insensitive to the arguments of the State Secretariat for the Digital Transition and Electronic Communications, supported by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition.

The commission seems to want to go through in force, but it will find parliamentarians on its way. The deputies of the former Écologie Démocratie Solidarité group tabled a proposal to amend article L. 311-8 of the Intellectual Property Code, which would ensure that "the remuneration for private copying is not due either when the recording media are the result of activities preparing for the reuse and reuse of products that have already given rise to such remuneration”. MoDem deputy Philippe Latombe proposes a similar amendment, which would affirm that "the remuneration for private copying is not due either by people who acquire reconditioned media".