PETALING JAYA: Several Malaysian consumers are up in arms over a call by the Music Council of Malaysia (MMM) for a levy to be imposed on blank CD-Rs, which can be used by consumers to copy music CDs.

Darshan Singh, National Consumer Complaints Committee chairman, said the MMM proposal is unfair to consumers.

“Legitimate users shouldn't have to bear the extra cost just because certain people are using CD-Rs to infringe on copyright,” he said.

Besides, he said, CD-Rs are used for more than making copies of music CDs; they are also used for computer backups and other forms of data storage.

“It is unfair for the music industry to impose a blanket charge,” he added.

Dinesh Nair, a software developer, agrees. He said MMM's lobbying for the levy is nonsensical and penalises the majority of legitimate CD-Rs users.

He said software developers use CD-Rs extensively to backup and store their work. “We're not alone in our use of CD-Rs this way, the entire ICT (information and communications technology) industry does it too.”

Another software developer, Thomas Yip, said the music industry's call is absurd because the MMM does not know how extensive such “home recordings” of music pieces onto CD-Rs are.

“I have to use CD-Rs to burn my software. The music industry wants to punish users like myself just because it thinks that CD-Rs are being used to infringe on their copyrights. That is totally bizarre,” said Yip.

Hezli Imin, a producer with a small production house, said he also does not agree with the levy.

He said the proposed move would affect his company's production costs. “Also, the levy would affect upcoming bands that need to record their demo tracks onto CD-Rs,” he added.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal said it may be better if something could be done to control the distribution of CD burners, rather than imposing a levy on blank CD-Rs.

“The CD burner should be controlled because it is a vital component for such (home recording) activities,” he said.

However, he said, even this needs to be further studied because there are parties, such as members of the academia, who use CD burners for legitimate purposes.

Shafie added that his ministry had yet to look into the MMM proposal.

Last week, the MMM announced that it had asked for the levy because it is concerned over the loss in revenue to the music industry whenever customers make copies of music CDs (see In.Tech, Dec 8). It believes that two out of three CD-Rs sold in the country are used for copying audio-visual material.

The Recording Industry Association of Malaysia claimed that such “home recordings” are a serious problem for the industry.