Are the 2003-2004 levies retroactive?
The levies for 2003-2004 were announced in December 2003, long after the January 1, 2003 effective date. However, the Copyright Board had announced an interim levy to remain in effect between the expiration of the 2001-2002 levy and the announcement of the 2003-2004 levy. This interim levy simply continued the 2001-2002 levies for the intervening period. The only new levies annouced are those which apply to MP3 players and similar devices. Despite the fact that the levies on these devices could be collected retroactively to January 1, 2003, the CPCC has undertaken only to begin collection of these new levies as of December 12, 2003. So the short answer is, NO, the new levies are not retroactive (“old” levies covered by the interim decision will still be collected).
