Archive for July 19th, 2007

Copyright Board Gives Go Ahead to iPod Levy

The Copyright Board of Canada has released its decision on a series of motions contesting the latest attempt by the Canadian Private Copyright Collective to apply the private copying levy to iPods and removable memory storage cards.  The proposed levy was challenged by the Canadian Storage Media Alliance and the Retail Council of Canada, who argued that the Federal Court had already struck down a previous levy on iPods (or more accurately digital audio recorders) as outside the Copyright Act.  The CSMA and RCC argued that the Board had no jurisdiction to consider or approve the levy or alternatively that the CPCC should be prevented from proposing it.

The Board conducted hearings on the motions last month and has responded quickly with an emphatic rejection of the CSMA and RCC.  Siding consistently with the CPCC, the Board has left little doubt that it believes that the earlier decision has not foreclosed the possibility of a levy on devices such as the iPod.  In fact, the Board provides the clearest statement yet that it believes that the levy could be applied to any device, including cellphones and computers.  At paragraph 70, the decision states:

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July 19, 2007 43 comments News

CRIA’s “Unprecedented” Decline

This week's CRIA release reminded readers that several months ago the organization generated an enormous amount of interest when it trumpeted an "unprecedented" decline in sales for the first quarter of 2007.  Graham Henderson was quoted as saying that "we've experienced sizeable short-term drops before, but nothing compares to the […]

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July 19, 2007 2 comments News

NHL’s Centre Ice Coming to the Web

The Wall Street Journal reports that the NHL has struck a deal to offer its Centre Ice package for webcast on the Internet.

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July 19, 2007 Comments are Disabled News

Front Page Newspaper Viewer

Stephen Taylor has created a pretty cool front page viewer of the major Canadian newspapers (hat tip: Darren Barefoot).

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July 19, 2007 Comments are Disabled News

Legislative Summary in Need of Correction

CopyrightWatch points out that the legislative summary for the Library and Archives Act incorrectly says the statute contains a copyright term extension provision.

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July 19, 2007 Comments are Disabled News