Sabam claims 3.4% of every internet bill

Authors’ society Sabam is launching legal proceedings against Belgium’s internet providers, demanding 3.4% of the fees they receive from their customers, writes Ars Technica’s Joe Mullin. Sabam’s claim is similar to the blank media levy that exists in Canada and seems to be based on the assumption that a particular medium is used to break copyright law and therefore all users of that media should be required to pay a tax. However, Canada’s blank media tax was approved by its legislature. To get their 3.4% cut, Belgian authors, composers and publishers are hoping to bypass the legislature with a lawsuit. Belgian courts have a track record of favouring legacy media companies in their battles against internet companies. Google, for instance, has fought lengthy court battles with newspapers in Belgium without much success. But the move to go after the nation’s own ISPs is a new one. Sabam said it expected EU law to include “a larger number of actors” in delivering communications and collecting copyright fees, adding that it had attempted to negotiate with Belgian ISPs but filed its court case when they couldn’t strike a deal. Sabam has been demanding such fees since 2011, according to IDG News. A group of Belgian ISPs told IDG that Sabam’s attempt to litigate its way to an internet tax “lacks any legal basis”.