14.9 What's this about a tax on DAT?
Description
This article is from the rec.audio.* FAQ, by with numerous contributions by Bob Neidorff others.
14.9 What's this about a tax on DAT?
Every digital audio tape recorder and every blank digital tape
sold in the USA is priced to include a "premium" or "tax". This
tax is collected by the US Copyright Office and distributed to
the recording artists and record companies that own the
copyrights to commercial music. These fees are supposed to
repay them for lost royalties.
Many believe that this "tax" is illegal, because it represents
an assumption that the buyer will use the recorder and tape to
violate a copyright, and not to record their own works. A
founding principle of the USA legal system is that everyone is
assumed innocent until proven guilty.
If you believe that this law is unjust, write your elected
representatives.
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