Bad news: the digital canon has already been regulated in Paraguay

The tax will be on the cell phones, radios and any other device used for copying. The decree is a regulation of Cap. IV of Law 1328/1998 on Copyright of Paraguay, which establishes in its article 34 that:

The holders of rights over works published in graphic form, by means of videograms or phonograms, or in any kind of sound or audiovisual recording, will have the right to participate in a compensatory remuneration for the reproductions of such works or productions, made exclusively for personal use by means of non-typographical technical devices.
Said remuneration will be determined based on the equipment, apparatus and suitable materials to carry out the reproduction.
Payment will be credited through an identification on the recording or reproduction equipment and on the material supports used for duplication, when appropriate.
Copyright holders may introduce anti-copy technologies and control the reproduction of such works.

The norm, although it was sanctioned since 1998, was only regulated this year, despite the fact that in the European Community, for example, were ratified on more than one occasion the sentences that declare the digital canon illegal and unconstitutional and they set limitations on their application. The measure of the digital canon, misleadingly called “remuneration for private copying”, hides that no one pays twice for the same book or a CD or any other cultural asset in question, and therefore the "private copy" and the supposed losses that it brings to the musicians has never been reliably verified.

What has been proven, on the contrary, is that from its application the musicians have gotten to impoverish up to 98% more from the mandatory payment of the lien, which casts doubt on the role that collective managers play , especially regarding the distribution of the funds collected.

In the case of the Paraguayan law, it is curious how Chapter V of Law 1328/1998 recognizes a long series of exceptions for fair uses, that is, those domestic uses of works monopolized by copyright, which do not fall under under the scope of the law and that therefore They are exempt not only from requiring authorization from the owner of the rights but also from any payment for their use. This principle is based on the generality that all those activities carried out in a private environment and that do not harm the rights of third parties, are legally protected by the right to intimacy and privacy. The private copying of legally acquired works is not an activity that has been proven to materially or morally damage the rights of third parties. For this reason, the regulation of this measure in Paraguay is unusual, especially after so many years have passed since the law was enacted.

In Argentina, the indications frequently given by the Secretary of Culture of the Nation, Jorge CosciaThey seem to be moving towards the adoption of some kind of digital canon. In the latest edition of the MICA (Market of Cultural Industries of Argentina) there was a table on digital canon where conveniently some central aspects of the canon were omitted, and above all, something of utmost importance, which is the application of art. 19 of the Argentine National Constitution, which establishes:

The private actions of men that in no way offend public order and morals, or harm a third party, are only reserved to God, and exempt from the authority of the magistrates. No inhabitant of the Nation shall be obliged to do what the law does not command, or deprived of what it does not prohibit.

It is proven that the levies do not benefit the musician, represent an additional cost for the user and only benefit the collecting societies. We hope that the Paraguayan brothers will protest this unfair and arbitrary measure, because its passive acceptance by the Paraguayan citizens may have serious repercussions for the rest of the MERCOSUR countries.

Source: Free way