The Latvian authors’ society AKKA/LAA wins dispute over company’s obligation to pay data carrier levy

The Riga City Court has dismissed the application brought by SIA Baltijas Informācijas Tehnoloģijas, which sought to establish a legal fact exempting the applicant from the obligation to pay a data carrier levy to the Copyright and Communication Consulting Agency /Latvian Authors Association as stipulated by the Copyright Law. This levy pertained to 23 449 Acer Chromebook devices supplied to educational institutions under a procurement process.

Under the Copyright Law, the data carrier levy is a charge, that allows individuals to create a single copy of each legally obtained product, such as films or phonograms, for personal use. The obligation to pay this levy falls on manufacturers of devices used for such reproduction and blank media, as well as those who import such items into Latvia.

In this case, the court ruled that there was no basis to exempt a person, who does not meet the conditions specified in the regulatory acts for receiving an exemption from the obligation to pay the data carrier levy, from this statutory duty through a court decision aimed at establishing a legal fact. This means that specific exceptions provided in the applicable laws cannot be applied to a particular individual by means of a court ruling.

The court’s judgment has come into effect.

In this case, the interests of the Copyright and Communication Consulting Agency/Latvian Authors Association were represented by COBALT Specialist Counsel Līga Fjodorova.