Post Tagged with: "cpcc"

Federal Court of Appeal Strikes Down CRIA Memorandum

I've posted several entries on the ongoing attempt by CRIA to intervene in the Federal Court of Appeal review of the Copyright Board's iPod levy decision. Last week, I noted that the CPCC asked the court strike down the CRIA intervention on the grounds that it blatantly disregarded the court's […]

November 23, 2007 — 11 comments — News

CPCC Moves to Strike CRIA Intervention in iPod Levy Case

Earlier this week, I noted that CRIA has submitted its brief in the iPod levy case and that it appeared to ignore the judge's ruling that it limit its argument to the core issue before the court. Apparently, I was not the only one to notice the similarity between CRIA's initial request to intervene and this most recent brief. The CPCC has wasted no time in submitting its own motion to the Federal Court of Appeal asking it to strike out the entire brief. According to the CPCC:

"An examination of CRIA's Memorandum shows that it is nothing more than a condensed version of the representations contained in its motion to intervene. By addressing the seven issues identified in its motion CRIA has blatantly disregarded the ruling of this Court, which ordered that 'CRIA shall address only the three major issues before this Court…"

The CPCC is also furious that CRIA raised issues about the impact of P2P downloading and compliance with the Berne Convention, when there is no evidence on those issues before the court.

November 16, 2007 — 8 comments — News

CRIA Granted Leave to Intervene in iPod Levy Case But Court Doesn’t Want To Hear About File Sharing

The Federal Court of Appeal on Friday granted CRIA's request to intervene in the private copying/iPod levy judicial review, a case that openly reveals the divisions between CRIA and the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CRIA is on the board of CPCC but the CPCC objected to its intervention request). CRIA's Graham Henderson identified seven objections to the Copyright Board decision:

October 29, 2007 — 3 comments — News

Fearing Legalized P2P Downloading, CRIA Declares War on Private Copying Levy

The Canadian Recording Industry Association this week quietly filed documents in the Federal Court of Appeal that will likely shock many in the industry. CRIA, which spent more than 15 years lobbying for the creation of the private copying levy, is now fighting to eliminate the application of the levy on the Apple iPod since it believes that the Copyright Board of Canada's recent decision to allow a proposed tariff on iPods to proceed "broadens the scope of the private copying exception to avoid making illegal file sharers liable for infringement."

Given that CRIA's members collect millions from the private copying levy, the decision to oppose its expansion may come as a surprise. Yet the move reflects a reality that CRIA has previously been loath to acknowledge – the Copyright Board has developed jurisprudence that provides a strong argument that downloading music on peer-to-peer networks is lawful in Canada. Indeed, CRIA President Graham Henderson provides a roadmap for the argument in his affidavit:

"First, the Board has stated, in obiter dicta, on several occasions that the Private Copying regime legalizes copying for the private use of the person making the copy, regardless of whether the source is non-infringing or not. Therefore, according to the Board, downloading an infringing track from the Internet is not infringing, as long as the downloaded copy is made onto an 'audio recording medium'…

Second, also in obiter dicta, the Board stated that the private copying exception in Section 80 is not conditioned on the existence of a tariff to collect royalties covering the medium onto which copies are made.

Third, in combination with the aforementioned obiter dicta in the Board's other decisions, the Decision [the iPod decision] could potentially be interpreted to allow the copying of music files from any source – whether legitimate or illegitimate – onto any type of device ordinarily used by individuals to copy music, such as personal computers…"

While Henderson and CRIA make it clear that they disagree with this interpretation, they are obviously sufficiently concerned that it reflects Canadian law that they have burned their remaining bridges with Canadian music in order to try to persuade the Federal Court of Appeal to allow them to intervene in iPod hearings.

September 15, 2007 — 29 comments — News

“We Don’t Have Any Choice”

Last week, the Vancouver Sun ran a lengthy article on the music industry. It was a reasonable piece – comments from CRIA, CIRPA, and many artists presented some (though not all) perspectives. That said, CRIA's Graham Henderson provided comments that merit a response. According to Henderson:

We want laws that offer choice. Right now we don't have any choice and we want the ability to be able to try our business model in a digital environment and have at least the majority of people respect our wishes, recognizing all along that there are going to be people who take from us.

Leaving aside the fact that much of the copying that Henderson characterizes as "taking from us" is covered by the private copying levy that has now generated nearly $200 million since the CPCC began collecting the levy in 2000, CRIA is effectively saying that the only way the industry can offer digital music online is with DRM supported by anti-circumvention legislation. Anyone with even the slightest familiarity with digital music in Canada recognizes that this is utter nonsense.

September 5, 2007 — 5 comments — News