Olivia Colman, John Nettles and Joanne Harris are among dozens of high-profile artists calling for a portion of gadget sales revenue in the UK to go into a fund for performers and creators. From a report: In a letter in Tuesday’s Times newspaper, they claim a centralised “Smart Fund” could generate up to $415m per year for the UK’s creative sector. The levy would be between 1% and 3% of the overall price of a device. However, critics say it would amount to “a new tax” on consumers. It would apply to everything that can “store and download creative content.”

This includes laptops, PCs and smartphones, said a group of artist industry organisations behind the idea. There are no official proposals for such a scheme, but the artist Yinka Shonibare described it as “a no-brainer. ” “Currently there isn’t any effective way for creators to be recompensed when their work is downloaded and stored by audiences,” he said. However, Tech UK, a network for the country’s tech sector, said it sounded like a “new tax” on consumers. “It is an arbitrary tax on consumers that is hugely bureaucratic to manage, and with no transparency on how funds are disbursed and spent,” said a spokeswoman.

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Source: Slashdot – Stars Call for ‘Gadget Levy’ To Fund UK Creatives