kaplow@crvax1.DEC (Reach for the Stars) (03/07/86)
I received the following information in the mail today, from the Audio Recording Rights Coalition (ARRC), in response to calling their 800 number. I have no connection with this group, other than a definite desore to NOT pay such taxes on recording equipment and tape. Also, for those of you reading this in the VIDEO notes, please realize that the video industry wants to do the same thing, and that since a VCR is capable of recording audio (thats the main reason I bought a Beta HiFi deck), that video recorders and tapes would likely be taxed. Since the new 8mm format can record 24 hours of video on a single cassette, the TAX ALONE for one tape would be $14.40 under this law! Please write to your congressmen, and let them know how you feel about this bill. Personal letters are better, but if you are lazy, ARRC will send you a prepaid postcard that you can just fill out, sign, and return to them. They will deliver it to your elected representatives. Please DO NOT send things back to me, unless you can find a way to transmit your signature across the net as well. I will be writing a letter in response to this, and posting it in a few days. Next they will want to tax blank media, copyier paper, and carbon paper. Then its film. Finally they will even go after crayons. Nuke the greedy %$@^#%^&! Bob Kaplow Digital Equipment Corp. Arlington Heights, IL UUCP: {allegra,decvax,ihnp4,ucbvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-crvax1!kaplow ARPA: KAPLOW%CRVAX1.DEC@decwrl.DEC.COM * Reach for the Stars * C O N S U M E R A L E R T FIGHT AGAINST SPECIAL TAXES ON AUDIO TAPE RECORDERS AND BLANK TAPE In 1982 the recording industry, claiming it loses millions of dollars from home taping, began a campaign urging Congress to impose taxes, for its own benefit, on all audio recorders and blank tape. Bills imposing such "royalty taxes" were introduced, and staved off, in the 98th Congress. But the recording industry is now pushing a bill, HR 2911, that would slap taxes of $1 or more on blank tape, and 10-25% on recorders. WHY THE RECORDING INDUSTRY SEEKS A ROYALTY TAX In 1971, when Congress ammended the copyright law, it said that home audio taping was completely legal. At that time, the recording industry told the Congress that it did not object to the practice, after having had years of experience with private home use of audio recorders. Eleven years later, however, the recording industry changed its mind - after the motion picture studios began pushing for a royalty tax on video recorders and blank tape. The studios were seeking to capitalize on a court decision that said home video taping was copyright infringement, and the recording industry climed abord, piggyback, on their campaign. In January, 1984, the Supreme Court ruled that home taping is not a copyright infringement. Still, the recording industry hopes to have Congress enact royalty tax legislation in 1985 - overturning the Supreme Court decision - thrugh sheer political muscle. WHY A ROYALTY TAX IS UNNECESSARY AND UNFAIR The recording industry proposal is to tax all tapes and recorders. But, according to the best economic and survey evidence: 1. The majority of tapes made at home do not involve prerecorded music at all. They are used for letters, dictation, notes, music practice, home computers, etc. 2. People who record the most music buy the most records and prerecorded tapes. Most often, people tape to preserve their own records and to arrange favorite selections. 3. As home recorders ahve become personal and portable, they have made music more popular and accessable. They have helped records and tapes attract dollars back from video games. Yet, taxes on recorders would tax the very machines necessary to play the recording companies products. 4. Recording industry sales and profits are now at all-time highs. 1984 retail sales set a new record, approaching $4.5 billion. WHAT A RECORDING INDUSTRY ROYALTY TAX WOULD COST CONSUMERS. In 1982 "Rolling Stone" magazine estimated that the bills beng pushed by the record companies could "result in consumers spending three to four dollars more for a blank audio tape and five to ten percent more for a cassette deck." It was not until 1985 that the record companies spelled out, in HR 2911, what they actually want: * a penny per minute on blank tape (at retail, more than one dollar on a 90 minute tape) * 10% on most audio recorders; 25% on dual cassette models. One thing, however, is sure; it costs less to send one letter now to your Member of Congress opposing this tax than it will cost you each time to pay it when you buy a recorder or a blank tape. The Audio Recording Rights Coalition is a coalition of consumers, retailers, and manufacturers of audio products, and allied trade associations, formed in 1982 to preserve these important consumer rights: * the right to make private, non-commercial audio recordings free of government interference * the right to purchase audio products free of unfair and unnecessary royalty taxes In 1985 the fight in congress is tougher than ever. With a windfall in sight, the recording industry is attempting to persuade Congress that consumers won't care or won't notice if royalty taxes are enacted. WHAT YOU CAN DO To find out what you or your organization can do to avoid these taxes, call us toll free at 1-800-282-TAPE. If you wish to collect signatures on petitions opposing such taxes, you may use the following text: "We the undersigned oppose HR 2911 or any legislation that would cause royalty taxes, payable to record companies, to be added to or included in the prices we pay for recorders or tape." For each person include the name (printed), street address, city, state, zip code, and signature. Send completed petitions to: Audio Recording Rights Coalition P. O. Box 33705 Washington, D. C. 20033 The Home Audio Recording Act: An ARRC Assessment The Home Audio Recording Act, H.R. 2911, if enacted, would transfer hundreds of millions of dollars from the pockets of consumers to the coffers of the major recording companies by placing a royalty tax on audio recording equipment and blank tape. Similar legislation has been considered and soundly rejected by Congress in the past, and this bill deserves the same fate. Like previous royalty legislation, this bill taxes the audio equipment and blank tape. under this bill, every manufacturer (including importers) must pay a stiff royalty tax on every product it sells. The bill specifies the amounts: 10% of the sale price on each audio recorder, 25% of the sale price of dual cassette audio recorders, and one cent per minute of playing time on all blank tape. (This tax may also apply to blank VIDEO tape.) Thus, the tax is built into the wholesale price, and consumers can expect to pay even higher amounts at retail. The bill allows - but does not require - exemption for home taping not involving copyrights, but it doesn't say how the exemption will work. Presumably, a consumer would have to pay the tax, then apply for a rebate if he qualifies for an exemption. IF the Register of Copyrights decides to authorize an exemption, and IF applying for this rebate is as quick and easy as getting money back from the IRS, this should be great fun! In like fashion, the bill authorizes - but does not require - an exemption for recording devices and blank tape which aren't suitable for recording music. What the bill's drafters have conveniently ignored is that almost any recorder and virtually all tape can be used to tape music. Maybe they think consumers will accept a phony exemption. As expected, the money collected will go to the big recording companies who are pushing for this legislation. At a time when the recording industry is experiencing record breaking profits, only greed can explain this grab for more money from the record industry's own consumers.