Post Tagged with: "Copyright Board"

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:

July 19, 2007 — 43 comments — News

Canadians Overpay Millions on Private Copying Levy

The Copyright Board of Canada issued its latest private copying decision [pdf] on Friday. The fourth major decision from the board on private copying, the decision addresses the levy for 2005 – 2007 (the Canadian Private Copying Collective attempt to extend the levy to iPods and SD cards would commence in 2008).

Interestingly, the levy will decrease slightly as a result of this decision, though the Copyright Board was actually inclined to increase the rate (note that all opposing parties dropped out of the proceedings, leaving only the CPCC to present evidence). The Board felt that 29 cents would be the appropriate levy for blank CDs, yet kept the levy at 21 cents since that is what the CPCC requested. At the same, it reduced the levy for other blank media – cassette tapes dropped by five cents to 24 cents per tape, while CD-R Audio, CD-RW Audio, and MiniDiscs all dropped from 77 cents to 21 cents.

The reduction in the levy leaves a significant surplus with the Board estimating that the CPCC will need to return $2.5 million in overpayment for the past three years. The CPCC has expressed disappointment at this result and indicated that it will develop a plan to reimburse importers and manufacturers for the higher levies that were collected from 2005 – 2007. Of course, assuming that the price of the levy was passed along to consumers, it is not the importers and manufacturers that should receive the reimbursement – it is Canadian consumers. The Board absolves itself of this issue by stating that "it is not for us to determine who, in the supply chain leading to the final consumer, will be the ultimate beneficiary of these refunds." In other words, Canadians have overpaid millions of dollars over the past three years for the private copying levy, yet that money will go into the pockets of importers, manufacturers, and possibly retailers (sounds like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen).

In addition to the overpayment issue, the decision contains several interesting revelations.

May 15, 2007 — 19 comments — News

Copyright Board Issues Online Music Decision

The Copyright Board of Canada this afternoon issued its much-anticipated decision involving online music services. The decision sets a tariff for the online music services to be paid for the reproduction of music. I blogged about the hearings in the fall, which pitted the CMRRA against CRIA and the online music services.

The Copyright Board was asked to choose between two benchmarks in establishing the tariff. CMRRA wanted to use the recent ringtone decision as the starting point, while CRIA argued that traditional CDs served as the more appropriate starting point. The Board sided with CRIA, ultimately arriving at a tariff of 7.9 percent of the retail price per "permanent" download (ie. a download from Apple iTunes) with a minimum payment of 5.3 cents per download. Note that CRIA also sought to become a sub-licensee of the CMRRA repertiore, but the Board rejected that request.

The decision also includes some important language with respect to private copying and DRM.

March 16, 2007 — 18 comments — News

Copyright Board Looking for a New Board Member

The Copyright Board of Canada is advertising for a new board member to fill a current vacancy. If you're interested, check out the vacancy notice and the selection criteria.

December 15, 2006 — 1 comment — News

CRIA Loses Judicial Review of Copyright Board Decision

The Federal Court of Appeal has rejected a CRIA judicial review request of a Copyright Board decision that required it to notify its (shrinking) list of Class "B" members of its decision to no longer represent them in the CSI online music tariff.

October 25, 2006 — 2 comments — News