Biznes Fakty
There's a draft of a smartphone tax.
The reprographic fee, often recently termed the smartphone tax, has remained relatively quiet for quite some time. In the meantime, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage has just put forward a draft regulation for discussion, accompanied by an updated inventory of devices that will incur the fee.
„The primary new additions in the list include mobile phones, tablets, and computers,” the Ministry of Culture clarified in its justification for the initiative.
The fee will encompass smartphones and tablets
For the first two categories, it is acknowledged that a considerable portion of the internal memory is occupied by the operating system and application software, thus fees will apply solely to devices with memory exceeding 32 GB.
Another notable item, as highlighted by the ministry, will be televisions and decoders equipped with built-in memory or external recording capabilities – currently, only televisions with VCRs, hard drives, and DVD recorders are liable for these fees. „A standardized fee of 1% of the retail price is anticipated for all these devices, significantly below the mandated 3% threshold. These items are expected to yield the majority of the fee revenue,” it elaborated.
„It is anticipated that the changes implemented will boost annual revenue from fees to around PLN 150-200 million (up from the current PLN 36 million – ed.), which will represent approximately 20 percent of the total revenue generated by all Polish collective management organizations. This will align fee levels with those in Spain and, among regional countries, with Hungary and Slovakia,” the justification states.
Reprographic fee
The Ministry of Culture elaborates on its website that the reprographic fee, often referred to as fair culture compensation, is a minor charge (ranging from 1 to 4 percent of the device price) collected from the margins of electronic equipment manufacturers—intended for the free, authorized use of protected works—benefiting the creators of those works. „This fee is not a novel concept; it has been in effect in Poland since the 1990s,” it asserts.
The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage emphasizes that Poland is among the last EU nations where smartphones and tablets do not incur a reprographic fee.
The Ministry clarifies that „the reprographic fee is not a tax”, and does not contribute to the state or local government budgets. „It is allocated to creators because the unrestricted playback of their works enhances the appeal and demand for electronic devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops, while concurrently diminishing the revenue creators receive from the sale of their works. The fee also greatly broadens access to cultural assets. Thanks to this arrangement, it is feasible to legally and freely access music, films, books, and images protected by copyright for personal, familial, or social use,” the report indicates.
According to the ministry, the reprographic fee „does not necessarily influence the prices of devices, as evidenced by the lower prices of the same popular smartphones or computers in Germany compared to Poland.”
Previously, the PiS government contemplated modifying the reprographic fee to encompass smartphones. However, this initiative ultimately did not materialize.
Who receives the funds from the reprographic fee?
The organizations authorized to manage and collect reprographic fees are:
1. in the „Audio” and „Video” sections: a) ZAiKS Association of Authors – for the benefit of authors, b) SAWP Association of Performing Artists – for the benefit of performing artists, c) ZPAV Association of Audio-Video Producers – for the benefit of phonogram and videogram producers;
2. in the „Reprographics” section – Association of Authors and Publishers Copyright Polska – for authors and publishers.
The distribution of fees collected by these organizations is carried out as follows:
1) from devices and media specified in the regulation’s annex, in the „Audio” section: a) ZAiKS Association of Authors – for the benefit of authors, b) SAWP Association of Performing Artists – for the benefit of performing artists, c) ZPAV Association of Audio-Video Producers – for the benefit of phonogram producers;
2) from devices and media specified in the regulation’s annex, in the „Video” section: a) Polish Filmmakers Association – for the benefit of creators and producers of videograms, b) Association of Polish Stage Artists ZASP – for the benefit of performing artists;
3) on devices and media specified in the regulation’s annex, in the „Reprographics” section – Association of Authors and Publishers Copyright Polska – for the benefit of authors and publishers.
