The Spanish association SGAE will start charging 0.13 cents / hour in each CD-R (CD-RW and recordable DVDs will pay even more).

Although making a copy of a CD for your own private use is legal in Spain (providing that you don't make profit from it), we will have to pay this kind of a "tax" to compensate for their loses in piracy. That is, everybody will have to pay for those who sell CDs on the street.

If you live in Spain, you'd better buy lots of CD packs before September 1st or you'll have to pay nearly twice what you pay for them now.

This is just another robery from the SGAE. They also thought to put this same "tax" on ADSLs and hard disks... a really non-sense of a mafia-lobby.

So, if I want to have a back-up copy of my files, a compilation of my music CDs, or to store my digital photos in a CD, I have to pay this tax...

What they should do is to lower the extremely high prices of the music CDs (nearly 20-25 € by now) instead on rising new taxes.

Fernando

PD: Besides, what I'm going to do is to buy a big stockpile of CDs and copying as much pirate music I can... now they are charging me for it, so why not doing it.

Fernando said: Or maybe a more logical thing to do would be to make a clean sweep of those illegal (immigrants and) vendors of the pirated CDs. It's amazing to me to see policeman in Madrid stroll by these "Top Manta" CD salesman, sometimes looking down and looking over the CDs for themselves to buy!! I would think that if every person (illegal immigrant or not) who was selling these things went to jail and had all their "merchandise" confiscated (even if they were put right back on the street hours later) that this would be a deterrant. I really don't understand why they don't do this. Madrid, for example, is becoming a kind of BAZAAR. I doubt this would look inviting to the Olympic Committee and expect them to do something about it soon.

So forget the peanut butter and pancake mix as care-package items when going to Spain. TAKE CD-RWs and give them to your Spanish friends! They'll be glad you did!

Saludos, MadridMan

The question is, if they are having a hard time to fight the top manta why do we have to pair for it?. Why do we all have to pay that tax?.

As Fernando says, the SGAE is always trying to put taxes on whatever they may find a remote connection to copyrights. They tried to charge hotels for the TVs they have in the rooms, for hard disks (they claim hard disks store MP3 files). I think they even tried to put that tax on modems because they transmit copyrighted material...

By the way, how much are CD-Rs in the US?. I am thinking of asking people to buy them for me there. Last week I bought a well-known brand 50 CD-R spindle pack for 17.50 euros. That is, about 0.35 cents each blank CD-R (not CD-RW). Is it cheaper or more expensive than there in the US?. The CDs I bought were "Verbatim", but they have also "Imation", and "Fuji" at the same price.

Boy, this is a hot topic!

Lots of issues here. Some comments:

1. The music industry always trys to protect their interests. It's the same in the U.S. Technology advances like DVDs, MPEGs, etc., were/are being delayed until the industry could get some sense of how their rights could be protected. In the U.S., they also have "silly" systems like having industry enforcers go around to bars and clubs to make sure they pay the royalties on the music they play. I understand in Spain, the industry claims that one of the reasons the price of CDs is so high is that they are charged the full 16 percent IVA, instead of 4 percent or so for books, etc., that are classified as "cultural items."

2. The copyright laws in Spain need to be strenghthened. The reason most police don't actively pursue the "top manta" is because the vendors can't be held for very long or given any real penalties. Also, don't just blame the police. There wouldn't be a market if there weren't buyers, and most Spanish consumers don't think they are doing anything real wrong in buying the pirated CDs. Notice how, when there is a crackdown, the only people running away are the vendors, never any of the buyers. You wouldn't see that blasé reaction if, say, drugs or stolen goods were involved. By the way, there are some analysts who think that the same people who run drugs or stolen goods and cars also are involved in "top manta" because the money is so easy.

Eduardo, VAT is just an excuse. If they really want to lower prices, there is an easier and faster solution. The SGAE charges 6% in each CD. They could remove it and "magically" music CDs will be 6% cheaper.

I have to admit that I've been known to step on a scarf or blanket or CD in the Puerta del Sol if I am walking, it is crowded and they are in the way. The sidewalk belongs to us! They scream like hell, but what can they do?

I have often seen the vendors running up c/Espoz y Mina to hide when the policia come!

Police doesn't care about street vendors for a number of reasons. They can't jail everyone who does it, the quantities are relatively small, and the vendors are just the end of the chain, people who just want to earn some euros to live.

From time to time the police dismounts some of these mafias. They discover the places in which the CDs are burnt, and take all the material (in dozens of thousands CDs), and of course they jail the heads of the band.

Fernando