<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:verdana,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><div style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">----- Mensaje original ----<br>De: Amelia Andersdotter <teirdes@gmail.com><br>Enviado: lunes, 24 de marzo, 2008 14:55:51<br>> If
the
state
should
take
a
more
active
part
in
the
relation
between economy
and
culture,
it
would
probably
be
better
to<br>> tax
things
other than
broadband,
like
carbon
dioxide
emissions
or
something.
Taxes
in general
are
usually
best
used
to<br>> limit
consumption
that's
less
good for
society,
and
shouldn't
punish
a
natural
development
of
the
market.<br><br>I see a risk with that approach: merging levies and State role in culture, thus losing the focus.<br><br>Levies are meant to be compensatory: if someone makes a legal -this is crucial: no levies must be paid for illegal acts, according to law; 2001/29/EC talks about compensation for the limits (established by laws) of exclusive author's commercial rights- actions, and if such actions supposedly cause losses to copyright holders, law force the people who made such actions -i.e., private copying (if it causes losses, we believe it doesn't)- to compensate copyright holders. So this is not about to tax or not to tax, but to find out if there is something to be compensated.<br><br>On the other hand, if we talk about the role of Member States in culture, let us check the national laws of each Member State. In Spain, like article 9 of Italian Constitution of 1947 -"<span style="font-style: italic;">Republic shall promote development of culture
and scientific and technical research</span>"- and article 73.4 of 1989 Portuguese Constitution -"<span style="font-style: italic;">scientific creation and research, as well as technological innovation shall be encouraged and supported by the State</span>"-, <a href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Spanish_Constitution_of_1978/Part_I#Chapter_3._Principles_governing_Economic_and_Social_Policy">article 44 of Spanish Constitution of 1978</a> states that "<span style="font-style: italic;">the public authorities shall promote and watch over access to culture, to which all are entitled</span>" and also that "<span style="font-style: italic;">the public authorities shall promote science and scientific and technical research for the benefit of the general interest</span>"; statements that <a href="http://narros.congreso.es/constitucion/constitucion/indice/sinopsis/sinopsis.jsp?art=44&tipo=2">have been interpreted by Constitutional Court's case law (<span
style="font-style: italic;">Spanish</span>)</a> as they mean -refering to the scientific issue- that the State has the obligation of creating and keeping units and centres dedicated to the development and spreading of the researching efforts.<br><br>The same can be extrapolated for the cultural issue, with museums, art schools -like Spanish <a href="http://www.resad.es/english.htm">Royal School of Dramatic Arts</a>, Spanish conservatoires, etc-, and public spaces for exhibition and spread of cultural works, to just enumerate a few examples. Instead of creating new taxes, one may suggest to reformulate current taxes -for instance (this is not a current PIRATA proposal, it's only an example), instead of actual Spanish 16 % VAT for cultural comercially exploited goods, setting a common EU 4 % VAT for such goods, and also leaving the 12 points remaining after the tax lowerage as room for directly applied taxes; that is, for instance, a total 11 % tax,
formed with a 4 % VAT and a 7 % of cultural tax ( used to keep museums and enlarging their inventories; to keep current art schools and creating new ones; to create practising facilities for musicians and singers; etc )-, and that's interesting and may be fine, though I think it's not the subject discussed here and now.<br><br>If we are talking about levies, we are talking about if copyright holders have to be compensated by non-lucrative filesharing and, in general, by non-lucrative uses of the works whose copyright are held by; also, taxes don't apply as levies are meant to compensate the specific holders of the copyrighted works that are specifically copied/shared -thus taxes philosophy (getting more from whom have more, and giving more to whom have less) has nothing to do with what 2001/29/EC states (giving the compensation exactly to those whose rights have been supposedly affected)-. That's, I think, the point, the <span style="font-style:
italic;">what</span> and also the <span style="font-style: italic;">why</span>; the <span style="font-style: italic;">how</span> can be discussed -if necessary- after solving that previous questions -that's what I commented previously to Reinier, and what Reinier agreed to; and also wish we all would finally be able to agree to after considering this approach-. Regards<br><br><br> Carlos
Ayala<br> ( Aiarakoa )<br><br> Partido Pirata National Board's Chairman<br></div></div><br>
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