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Canada May Tax Legal Music Downloads

Posted by Zonk on from the more-like-a-half-pounder-of-flesh dept.

FuriousBalancing writes "MacNN is reporting that Canadians may soon pay a small tax on every legal music store download. This fee is the work of a measure proposed by the Copyright Board of Canada. About two cents would be added to every song downloaded, with 1.5 cents being added to album downloads. Streaming services and subscriptions would also be taxed, to the tune of about 6% of the monthly fee. Most interesting - the tax would be retroactively applied to every transaction processed since 1996. 'The surcharge would help compensate artists for piracy, according to SOCAN's reasoning. The publishing group draws similarities between this and a 21-cent fee already applied to blank CDs in the country; the right to copy a song from an online store demands the same sort of levy applied to copying a retail CD, SOCAN argues. The tax may have a significant impact for online stores such as iTunes and Canada-based Puretracks, which will have to factor the amount both into future and past sales.' The full text of the measure is available in PDF format."

3 of 246 comments (clear)

  1. WTF? by rm999 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "The surcharge would help compensate artists for piracy"

    So now we are taxing law-abiding citizens to make up for those who break the law? Is it just me, or does this *promote* piracy?

  2. Has anyone followed up? by QuietLagoon · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The surcharge would help compensate artists for piracy, according to SOCAN's reasoning. The publishing group draws similarities between this and a 21-cent fee already applied to blank CDs in the country

    Has anyone ever followed up to see just how much of the 21-cent fee actually makes it back to the artists, and how much is sucked up by the record company cartel?

  3. As ludricrous as it is unethical by seanthenerd · · Score: 5, Insightful
    So until now, we could assume that when we bought music from iTunes et al., a certain amount went to that company and a certain amount went to the artist. According to a record-producing-artist friend of mine, he actually gets a very decent cut as an indie artist with iTunes (especially considering the lack of material+hosting costs). Now, with this tax (considering that it goes to SOCAN, I'm not sure if that is even the right word), iTunes will get the same cut, SOCAN will get 3% or so, and the artist will get the rest - which is less going to the artist than before (assuming that iTunes doesn't up their prices, but if they do, the same holds true because less people will buy, meaning still less for the artists.) By applying this, isn't SOCAN stealing from the artists?! As in *money* stealing. SOCAN is supposed to represent Canadian artists (by collecting radio royalties and so forth). How on earth does this help their members?! Ludricrous.

    It would be comparable, I guess, to SOCAN collecting a tax on CD purchases. The whole beauty of internet distribution is getting rid of (or reducing the number of) middlemen. This is destroying every incentive people have to *support the artist*, which seems completely against what the whole point of SOCAN was. So if I make a band and sell my music using paypal, do I have to write cheques giving 3% of my profits to SOCAN? What am I getting from them? How does this help the artists? How does this help the industry? *

    Down with middlemen.

    * "While no public responses have been made, the Copyright Board report notes that both Apple and the RIAA-equivalent Canadian Recording Industry Association were heavily involved in resisting proposed rates."
    So even the CRIA's against it. Who the heck is SOCAN representing?