Spain rescinds private copy tax, adopts anti-piracy law

Spain's newly elected conservative government has annulled the country's controversial 'Canon Digital', a tax applied to media content storage devices and supports.

After negotiating with the sector, the government will pay rights holders fair compensation for consumers' private copy rights out of the federal budget. The private copy tax was established in 1987 but was severely criticized by the Spanish and European judiciary. Parliament has also approved the Sinde Law, which establishes an intellectual property commission to protect creators from the lost revenue of illegal downloads. Drafted by the previous socialist government, the Sinde Law is described as a hot potato by the new education and culture minister, Jose Ignacio Wert. Spanish president Mariano Rajoy's popular party sided with the socialists over the anti-piracy law nearly a year ago. Authorities will target people or entities that 'unduly earn money from the creative work of others' by hosting or providing links to content, rather than end-users.