French Court Orders Apple to Pay EU€5m for Private Copying Levy on iPads

PARIS — In a May 30 summary judgment, a French court ordered two Apple subsidiaries to pay EU€5 million to a government body empowered to assess levies on electronic storage media to compensate intellectual property rights holders for revenues purportedly lost to home copying of protected works (Apple Sales, Apple Retail France v. Copie France, TGI Paris, 5/30/2013).

According to the Paris first instance court’s ruling text, the Private Copy Tax Collection and Redistribution Commission, through its agent Copie France, sought a total EU€7.18 million private copying levy on Apple’s sales of iPads in France for the period ...