A lambda iPhone. (drawing) – JOSEPH EID / AFP
The National Assembly adopted early Thursday evening a compromise on the application to reconditioned smartphones of a royalty intended to finance artists, the subject of a lively controversy between worlds of culture and industry. This compromise provides that these second-hand telephones will be subject to this “remuneration for private copying” (RCP), but at a “specific and differentiated” rate – taking into account in particular their age compared to new ones – and that companies in the sector social and solidarity will be exempt.
Amendments to this effect, tabled by the government and by members of the majority, were adopted during the examination at first reading by the deputies of a bill of senatorial origin aimed at reconciling digital development and protection. of the environment. The Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, welcomed a “win-win solution” for artists and the economic sector.
An exemption that sparked an uproar
The prospect of exempting refurbished cell phones from this royalty had caused an uproar in the cultural world, which saw it as a breach in an important system of support for artists. Conversely, the companies in the sector wanted this exemption, believing that this fee, if it were perpetuated in the law, could destroy the dynamism of this sector, which is a strong creator of jobs, in particular of solidarity.
The bill includes numerous measures aimed in particular at supporting the recycling and reuse of digital devices (smartphones, computers, tablets, etc.) to reduce their impact on the environment.