Brussels, 13/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - France's “carte jeune”, by which it hopes to encourage legal downloading of music, was approved by the European Commission on Tuesday 12 October. The Commission decided that the card complies with EU state aid rules.
The “carte musique” will allow young internet users aged between 12 and 25 years old to download €50 worth of music from legal platforms for half the price, with the French state paying for the rest. The scheme is expected to last two years and each consumer will be able to buy one card per year. The target is to sell one million cards in each of the years.
“The measure responds to concerns that the increasing volume of online music distributed in breach of copyright rules might drive legal music distribution platforms out of the market,” the Commission says.
The measure requires website operators to contribute to the scheme through a reduction in the price of the music, an extension of the duration of the subscription and/or a contribution to the cost of advertising the card. It caps the benefit each operator may draw from the scheme at €5 million, in order to ensure that independent and niche operators are also able to benefit from the scheme. As a result, the scheme will contribute to preserving pluralism and cultural diversity in the online music industry. The Commission concluded, therefore, that the benefits of the measure would outweigh any potential distortions of competition that might be brought about by the aid. (L.C./transl.rt)