MP3 Player Tax Proposed In Canada

Interoperable writes "The status of sharing music in Canada is, to some extent, ambiguous. This is partly due to a levy imposed on blank media, CD-Rs and cassette tapes, that compensates artists and the recording studios for a loss of revenue due to copying. Legislation proposed by the NDP and supported by the Bloc Quebecois would extend that levy to cover MP3 players with the intent of decriminalizing audio file sharing for Canadian citizens. The proposed legislation, however, faces opposition from the governing Conservative party; the Liberal party has agreed to discuss the proposed bill."

Comments

The levy only compensates Major Label artists

[commodore64_love]

Indepedent artists are still left out in the cold.

Re:The levy only compensates Major Label artists

[xZgf6xHx2uhoAj9D]

That's not entirely true, depending on what you mean by "independent". So long as you are a member of SOCAN and have music tracked by SoundScan, you're eligible for the levies, regardless of whether you're signed onto a major label. This flow chart (warning: PDF) describes the pay-out structure.

The media have been kind of lacking here, though. I have no idea how this pay-out scheme works in practice :(. Go go go investigative journalism!

Re:Useful

[Yvan256]

Not effective at all.

Try, try again

[debrain]

I participated in the effort to defeat this same proposal in 2002-2004. However these guys never quit. The good news is that they aren't particularly inspired – or inspiring.

It's noteworthy that I found out about the last go-around of this effort by the Canadian Private Copying Collective on Slashdot.

Re:Non-Canadians; UPC

[Monkeedude1212]

So if you happen not to be Canadian yet are the author of music that has been copied in Canada, how do you get into SOCAN?

You move to Canada.

We don't do it to be righteous or to be nice. It helps foster the Canadian music industry.

Keep the money in the Country.

Re:Where's the "-1 Misinformed, eh" mod.

[shutdown -p now]

If you're quoting the Copyright Act, you should at least quote the relevant sections of it:

Copying for Private Use

Where no infringement of copyright
80. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the act of reproducing all or any substantial part of
(a) a musical work embodied in a sound recording,
(b) a performer’s performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording, or
(c) a sound recording in which a musical work, or a performer’s performance of a musical work, is embodied
onto an audio recording medium for the private use of the person who makes the copy does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the musical work, the performer’s performance or the sound recording.

Limitation

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the act described in that subsection is done for the purpose of doing any of the following in relation to any of the things referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) to (c):
(a) selling or renting out, or by way of trade exposing or offering for sale or rental;
(b) distributing, whether or not for the purpose of trade;
(c) communicating to the public by telecommunication; or
(d) performing, or causing to be performed, in public.

1997, c. 24, s. 50.

Right of Remuneration

Right of remuneration
81. (1) Subject to and in accordance with this Part, eligible authors, eligible performers and eligible makers have a right to receive remuneration from manufacturers and importers of blank audio recording media in respect of the reproduction for private use of
(a) a musical work embodied in a sound recording;
(b) a performer’s performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording; or
(c) a sound recording in which a musical work, or a performer’s performance of a musical work, is embodied.

Other sections in there establish procedure for collecting the levy and distributing it to copyright holders.