The music industry in New Zealand is proposing a new levy for Internet users who illegally download music in an aim to solve the illegal file sharing issue. Broadband users who pay this annual levy of up to ~US$80 would be entitled to unlimited free downloading of music from file-sharing networks, including copyrighted content, according to the New Zealand Herald. The proceeds of this levy would then be distributed among the rights-holders and the creators. The amount each artist receives would depend on how popular their songs are.
The main advantage of this proposed system is that it would ensure content creators get paid for their work. Internet users who pay the fee would get access to the vast majority of copyrighted music out there without being limited to the library of any online music store, not to mention the usage and playback restrictions (DRM) most stores apply on their music.
However, this proposal also has a few significant drawbacks. All current legal music stores in New Zealand would become useless, since anyone who pays the levy would unlikely ever pay for individual songs. The New Zealand Music Commission spokesman Steve Newall pointed out another problem in that it would be difficult for the music industry to agree on a value for the music and how to split up the collected fees among the artists.
In addition to the ISP fee proposal, the Government also plans implementing a similar proposal to France where those involved in illegal file sharing will be warned up to two times and then cut off if caught a third time. It is unclear at this time whether this would just apply to non-fee payers or if it would include fee payers who illegally share copyrighted music, etc.
