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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."

11 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?

    1. Re:WTF? by monkaru · · Score: 5, Informative

      In theory there is no reason to DRM music in the Canadian market as copying is legal when a levy is paid on media and downloaded music from on-line stores would also be legal to copy hence the tax. It's a case of a much larger country having Draconian copyright laws while a smaller neighbour goes at the issue in an entirely different way. Obviously, American labels aren't about to make an easy to copy version for the Canadian market.

  2. A tax on not committing piracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because of the health costs of tobbaco, Canada is proposing a new tax on non-smokers.

  3. Theoretically Speaking by ChromaticDragon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just how do we get connected to this gravy train?

    Can we just churn out some simple recordings, demonstrate it's theoretical pirating rates and call up somewhere to get some dough?

  4. 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?

    1. Re:Has anyone followed up? by monkaru · · Score: 5, Informative

      Interestingly, the CRIA has refused to collect the money. So, there are billions in artists money sitting uncollected.

  5. tax legal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They should tax the illegal downloads, that is where the money is!

  6. Ex Post Facto Laws by kalidasa · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A retroactive tax an ex-post-facto law. If this were the US, that part of the law would be unconstitutional on its face, article I, section 9, paragraph 3: "No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed." But of course, it's Canada, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms only affects criminal retrospective laws (and section 33 can be used to obtain a 5 year mulligan if it is). BUT I AM NOT A LAWYER, so maybe I'm wrong (but I may be right).

  7. It is NOT piracy in Canada! by John+Jamieson · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have mod points I would love to use, but I have no chance because no one is correcting the Myth of Piracy.

    In Canada it is NOT piracy to copy a song for personal use. It is not stealing, it is not copyright infrigement. It is a right granted by law, a law that was encouraged by the music industry back in the Audio Cassette days. Yes, they now regret it... too bad!

    1. Re:It is NOT piracy in Canada! by monkaru · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yes, you are exactly right. I'm not too happy with the spokesperson the copyright board used for this annoucement because the did a very bad job of explaining exactly what is meant by "copying" in Canada. As you say, copying music to levied media is not piracy but legal copying and the levy on on-line music would allow the copying of downloaded files more than once. Giving a copy to your mom for example. However, DRM routines may make most downloads not easily copied anyway but might make an interesting court case should someone purchase levied music on-line and discover the files are altered in a manner that prohibits or makes very difficult legal copying. Legal copying they have paid for. Could get interesting.

  8. 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?