Game consoles are currently subject to copyright levies in some countries, only. Manufacturers and importers usually do not have to include the remuneration for private copies in the sales price for functions of the device that enable copying and storing of copyrighted content. Consoles have often not been covered by legal provisions, or have explicitly been excluded. This could well change soon, because the typical use of some devices and their components, i.e. gameplay and consoles could certainly enable private copying; this goes beyond classic contents such as copying pictures, downloading movies or music to include live streams, social media-memes and screenshots.
In principle, any device suitable for the purposes mentioned above would be subject to levy. In this context, the European legislation hardly differs from one other. In the area of video games, users make private copies when they record game actions, or capture the user interface through Let's Plays, Walk-throughs, Highlights, Role Plays, or Shadow Play. Recordings of e-sport broadcasts, or for support are also possible. These are widespread actions in the gaming sector. Nevertheless, all of this is not taken into account in the device levy and in the distribution of remuneration.
Germany is not among the countries that levy dues on consoles and other peripherals, either. However, a new collecting society was founded in May of this year for the purpose of explicitly addressing the gaming industry's copyright remuneration to a much greater extent. The association of the German computer and video games industry founded the collecting society for game manufacturers (Verwertungsgesellschaft für die Hersteller von Games, VHG). Its primary purpose is to enforce private copy remuneration claims for the games industry. This would mean that in the future, developer studios and game publishers would also be able to claim the flat-rate remuneration for private copies via the new collecting society.
In light of these developments, however, it is doubtful whether the devices that are used here will still be excluded from the copyright levies. Negotiations on recalculating existing tariffs or extending the scope to include game consoles could be initiated, and that not only in Germany.
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