Apple ordered to pay 12 million euros for unpaid iPad copyright fees
Apple has been ordered to pay 12 million euros by a French court because of unpaid taxes on iPad copyrights between March 2012 to December 2012. The judgment is a continuation of the battle between Apple and the society of authors, composers and music publishers (SACEM) in France. SACEM is a French organization that doles out the "copie privée" tax to writers, artists, producers, musicians and other content creators. The "copie privée" is a tax in some European countries on digital devices that can display, copy or transfer copyrighted content.
SACEM alleged that Apple has collected the "copie privée" tax, but failed to turn it over to the organization so it could dole the money out to its members that create the content sold on Apple's iPad. SACEM says Apple actually owes more than 30 million euros since 2011, but this most recent ruling was only concerned with the period between March 2012 to December 2012. Apple has not yet issued a comment on the ruling.
