France Proposes "Google Tax" for IPR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 000029 SENSITIVE SIPDIS BUSINESS SENSITIVE INFORMATION NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION WHITE HOUSE FOR USTR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECPS EFIN ETRD EIND KIPR SCUL FR SUBJECT: France Proposes "Google Tax" for IPR Ref: A) Paris 1729 PARIS 00000029 001.2 OF 003 Summary and Action Requested -------------- ¶1. (SBU) President Sarkozy announced plans to tax internet advertising revenue generated by Google and other major internet sites (the examples of which all happen to be American)to fund revenues lost from internet piracy. This measure and others to counter piracy and encourage legal downloading were included in the report of a special Commission directed by the French First Lady's music producer, Patrick Zelnick. The Commission report identifies 22 measures to protect the music industry, but also include ideas on improving legal access to movies and books. The Commission estimates its proposals will require approximately 50 million euros of financing in 2010, then 35 to 40 million a year in 2011 and 2012. Embassy requests instructions on a rapid response to this initiative. End Summary. ¶2. (U) President Sarkozy used the occasion of presenting New Year's greetings to the cultural community January 7 to announce his broad endorsement of the recommendations of the Zelnick Commission and to call for the internet advertizing revenues generated in France to be taxed. The Commission's report, released the day before following months of work, proposes a variety of measures to compensate rights holders for piracy and to encourage legal downloading. The costs of these measures would be offset largely by a tax on internet advertising by major websites. The "Google Tax" -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The Zelnick Commission proposed a "modest" tax of one to two percent of Internet advertising revenues generated from France by companies established in the EU. In his statement, President Sarkozy asked Minister of Economy Lagarde to appoint an expert group on "capturing tax revenue from advertizing activity by major web portals and search engines present in France." He further noted his intention to ask French competition authorities for a ruling on Google's online ad revenue activities on the grounds of "abuse of dominant position." The tax could raise up to 20 million euros (USD 29 million) per year, according to the Zelnick report. Hard To Implement -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The Commission report notes the difficulty in implementing such a tax, which would be modeled on French taxation of insurance contracts that cover French risk, notwithstanding the location of the insurer or insured. Similarly, the "Google" tax would apply to companies established in the EU, regardless of the location of either the website operator or advertiser. The report claims the tax complies with EC rules, which only restrict territoriality to the VAT, but acknowledges it would require cooperation by EU member states. (Note: Ireland, where Google's advertising operations and 1,000 jobs are located, may be particularly unenthusiastic. End note.) Website operators would self-report online ad revenue generated from France, which would in turn require spot checks from third party verification companies. ¶5. (SBU) The report proposes two exemptions that may cover the majority of French businesses: companies with modest online ad revenue; and companies, such as broadsheet newspapers, whose online activities contribute the most to remuneration of rights holders whose content is placed online, and who "suffer the most from the current advertising market situation." The text of the Zelnick report noted that the tax would be levied mostly on "Google, Facebook, Microsoft, AOL or Yahoo!". Supporting the Music Industry -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Commission's recommendations for support focus on music which Zelnick stated is the most vulnerable to online piracy. Zelnick proposed that the GOF subsidize 50 percent of the cost of legal online music sales for young people up to a maximum of 200 euros. The online music debit card would be available as early as summer 2010, priced at half of its face value. It is unclear which sites or what products would be included. Sarkozy claimed that this would accustom young people with paying for music, and would be accompanied by an ambitious communication campaign targeted at young Internet users. Sarkozy also approved the establishment of a new regime for collective management of copyrights for online music services, to be achieved voluntarily within one year through an industry agreement, or imposed by law if negotiations failed. PARIS 00000029 002.2 OF 003 ¶7. (U) Other music proposals include the extension of the "equitable remuneration" regime (used for radio) to rights holders whose content is offered online, and an increase in the tax deductibility of expenses related to developing digital markets. Another proposal is to increase funding for the online music industry through the Institute for Financing Cinema and Cultural Industries (IFCIC),a private lending institution owned by French banks, large public financial institutions, and the GOF. Supporting Film -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The Zelnick Commission attributed much of the impetus for movie piracy to the delay between a film's theatrical and on-demand release. To close this gap, new measures would accelerate release to video-on-demand services of French films co-financed by French television groups. Sarkozy also endorsed the idea of a single website to group the catalogue of French films available for legal download. Finally, in a reference to Google's efforts to digitize French libraries (Ref A),the report proposes a licensing fee for all commercial exploitation "by multinational businesses" of French films in the public domain. (Note: Within the next week, we expect the report of another French commission led by Marc Thessier on how to digitize France's cultural heritage. The Thessier report was triggered in response to backlash over Google's controversial agreement to digitize the French National Library's collection.) Supporting Publishing -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The Commission report proposed, and President Sarkozy endorsed, a uniform price for digital books, similar to what exists in France for hard-copy books, and a reduction of the VAT rate on all cultural products, including digital books. Sarkozy also highlighted Zelnick's proposal to finance publicly the digitization of France's cultural heritage. The GOF has already committed 753 million euro (USD 1.1 billion) in funding for this effort in the "grand emprunt," France's special debt offering to fund future-oriented investment. Finally, the report recommends the development of a single online book sales portal to which all the publishing companies would contribute. Zelnick claimed this measure is necessary in order to redirect market share away from "outside operators" (such as Amazon) and toward "traditional actors." French Industry Reaction: Robin Hood Lives! -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Electron Libre, a popular IT blog, sarcastically characterized Zelnick as a modern-day Robin Hood. Most French businesses, however, expressed little concern since they would likely be exempt. Google claims Daily Motion, the French version of YouTube that has less online advertising, is secretly pleased with the idea. But a January 8 op-ed in Les Echoes, France's primary business newspaper, argued it made no sense to tax a growing, successful company like Google in order to underwrite businesses weakened as much by their own strategic errors as by the digital revolution. Another Les Echoes op-ed argued high-speed internet service providers (ISPs) should be taxed instead, since they benefit the most from the explosion of internet traffic due to piracy. ¶11. (SBU) For French industry, the most controversial proposal in the Zelnick report is the collective rights management regime. This measure is designed to favor small and medium-sized music producers against larger, international labels (the report cites as examples Universal, Warner, Sony, and EMI) when negotiating distribution rights with online platforms. A collective regime would eliminate or lessen the price disparity between what major and minor music labels could command, ostensibly allowing development of additional, legal French online music sites. But larger producers rejected Sarkozy's claim that "everyone do their share," saying collective rights management undermines their property rights. SACEM, France's premier rights-holder licensing entity equivalent to the U.S.-based ASCAP, claims the report's proposals insufficiently address remuneration to rights holders harmed by piracy and argued that ISPs and Web 2.0 services (citing YouTube, FaceBook, and Myspace) should be forced to contribute. ¶12. (SBU) Comment. Econoff discussed the impending announcements just with Patrick Zelnick while waiting for President Sarkozy to speak. We noted our surprise since Zelnick told both us and Google that he had abandoned the tax proposal (reftel.) He hinted that the tax was not his idea but noted that "it was the start of the negotiation." Also waiting for the President's remarks, Econoff heard, the Commission co-chair and Sotheby's France CEO Guillaume PARIS 00000029 003.2 OF 003 Cerruti tell Google reps that a tax was "inevitable" as Google had "become too big and has to be regulated." Google's reaction was understandably circumspect. A senior Google official told us he was relieved the debate was finally public and Google could now demonstrate its value to the cultural sphere rather than silently suffer unilateral GOF attacks. End Comment. Action Request: Next Steps for France and the U.S. -------------- -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Zelnick told Econoff the report's measures will be implemented quickly, with an interministerial meeting planned for mid-January. Post requests interagency guidance on a USG response to these proposals, which appear to us to be intended to tax primarily U.S. companies in order to subsidize the French music publishing, film, and publishing industries (and not, we note, the artists and creators allegedly impacted by piracy.) PEKALA