Cassette tapes are still played in the courts

Today, the judgment in the case between Samsung and Copyswede was delivered. Solna District Court considers that an excise tax should be levied on all computers and tablets sold to private individuals in Sweden.

Copyswede likes to sue companies that don't share its views on which consumer products should be taxed. We are just doing our job. That's the law. This is usually the reflexive defense when the reasonableness of their levy requirements on, for example, computers, mobile phones and tablets is questioned.

The courts' reasoning sounds similar. We are just doing our job. That is the law.

That may be so, but reality is different.

Everyone knows that few of today's media consumers sit at home and copy a lot of files between different media. Copying is obsolete in a connected society. Accessibility, not ownership or duplication, is what today's media consumers want.

The fact that the law is such that the computers, phones and tablets that we all need to be able to take part in the digital society should be penalized with fees to be distributed to rights holders for something that consumers are not doing is not okay. Especially when the same products are widely used to consume media services such as Spotify and Netflix, where cultural creators are already paid through agreements and licenses.

Today's judgment in Solna District Court shows how outdated and outmoded the legislation and system surrounding private copying has become. Society has moved on. But in the courts, the cassette recorder is still spinning. The need for reform is becoming increasingly apparent.