Copyright Board hikes private copying levy
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- As Art Threat put it, “Squirreled away in an unhappy little room somewhere in Ottawa, the Copyright Board of Canada toils away figuring out ways to turn industrial paranoia into cash.”
The result? The board has, “increased the levy on each blank CD to 29 cents (it had been 21 cents),” says Michael Geist, going on:
“The Board argues that this will keep revenues constant at $30 million per year since blank CD sales are declining and there is no levy on digital audio players. It justified the increase by noting that compression technologies allow consumers to pack more songs onto a single CD. While several groups initially objected to the tariff, most dropped out of the process, leaving only the Retail Council of Canada, which did not present any evidence at the hearing into levy last spring.
“The future of the levy remains in doubt as the Conservatives have indicated their desire to cancel it and had committed to a public consultation on the issue this past fall (which did not happen due to the national election).”
Will George W. Harper and his merry crew be in a position to cancel, or not cancel, anything?
We’ll see after Christmas, but in the meanwhile, “Let me get this straight,”says Michael Lithgow on Art Threat, continuing »»»
The increased storage due to new compression technology somehow justifies an 8 cent increase on every CD bought and sold in Canada? Who’s making these rules? Oh right, the big music publishers and distributors. Paranoia will destroy ya …
As many know, copying music onto CDs is increasingly a technique of the past, something to tell wide-eyed grandchildren about, yet another crazy story (along with 8-tracks and laser discs) about how things were done in the past. Nonetheless, our outrage is well placed.
All CDs are subject to the 29¢ tax, whether they’re used for music or anything else, such as to back-up data or to send your Grandma in Australia a collection of Christmas pics.
“In establishing the levy rates on CDs, the Board has taken into account the fact that they have other uses than recording music, such as storing data and digital images,” it says.
Oh. That’s OK, then
Meanwhile, “Send an email to your local coalition leader and tell them what you think,” Lithogow suggests, adding »»»
The Conservatives said they were going to scrap the tax, but never got a round to it. Maybe a shaky and a little bit desperate coalition government will be more sensitive to voter outrage.
Stephen Dion stephane.dion@bellnet.ca
Jack Layton Layton.J@parl.gc.caAnd sure, why not, send one to Gilles Duceppe. Even though the Bloc isn’t part of the coalition, they’ve agreed to play along on motions of non-confidence. Duceppe.G@parl.gc.ca (en francais, s’il vous plait)
Boo! Hiss! Down with the Copyright Board of Canada’s draconian taxes on thought crimes!
What specific forms of blank recording media are subject to the levy? Here’s what the board says:
- Analog Audio Cassettes: All analog audio cassettes with a recording time of 40 minutes or more are subject to the private copying levy. No distinction is made among types of cassettes according to bias, nor between standard length and custom length cassettes.
- CD-Rs and CD-RWs: These recordable and rewritable digital media are typically used in CD writers found in personal computers. They are used to record and store data, including sound recordings.
- CD-Rs Audio and CD-RWs Audio: These are recordable and rewritable digital media formats, respectively, that are electronically marked for use in certain consumer audio recording equipment.
- MiniDiscs: This is a rewritable digital medium (a 2½ inch disc) that relies on data compression to store recorded music, primarily for use in portable MiniDisc audio players.
“Ironically, due the the levy scheme, the price of blank DVDs, which hold about seven times more data than blank CDs, is now much lower in many cases than blank CDs,” observes Howard Knopf, going on:
“This is because there is no levy on blank DVDs, that battle having been won in the 2003-2004 hearing and not renewed.
“The Copyright Board’s decision at the outset of this tariff hearing to proceed with a tariff on iPods and other digital audio recorders, etc. was quickly and decisively quashed by the Federal Court of Appeal on January 10, 2008. This leaves the CPCC with blank CDs as the only significant source of levy income. The CPCC clearly hopes to impose a levy on iPods, etc. via a change to the Copyright Act.
“There are significant internal battles in the music industry about the levy. In the aforesaid court case that quahsed the hearing on an iPod levy, CRIA actually intervened against the CPCC.”
Stay tuned.
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Art Threat - 29 cents for your thought(crime)s? Copyright Board of Canada rewards music industry’s paranoia, December 6, 2008
Michael Geist – Copyright Board Increases Private Copying Levy, December 5, 2008
Howard Knopf - Levy Increase, December 5, 2008
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December 6th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Jon, I am unsure of the direction this article is taking, but this levy is some-what good for the people in a weird way.
Sure its a tax and more money to the cartel who, if i recall right, had to be sued to give some money back to the artists (something like that).
However, this tax is what I think allows people to download and burn their music (or part of the loop-hole).
If I recall right, CRIA wants to do away with this tax, since this levy gives people a download loop-hole since the tax is supposed to go to support the artists.
CRIA is drooling at a chance to sue the Canadian people like the RIAA is doing in the states. The erradication of this levy with the help of dictator Harper will push them in this direction.
Please correct me if i’m wrong. But I don’t think I am.
I think part of this “mess” can be viewed at http://www.cippic.ca/copyright-law-reform/ and also if one does a search for levy on Dr. Geist’s site.
So this levy isn’t a bad thing. It’s actually good for the people, and bad only for CRIA (who wanted it in the first p[lace, then changed their mind heh).
So I didn’t get this from your article… It left me wondering what direction and side this article is taking. Wasn’t clear to me.
:p
December 7th, 2008 at 5:37 am
MAFFIA protection racket, plain and simple. What tax will they think up next to keep the increasingly irrelevant cartel in business? I wonder what all these lobbyists are going to do when the record companies collapse? That’s also a lot of bribes which reprobate politicians will sorely miss.
December 7th, 2008 at 6:16 am
The harper gov is bailing them out by allowing them to sue granny and kids with their new copyright laws
December 7th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
One group that purchases a large quantity of CD-Rs would be independent musicians, recording their own music onto a CD-R and giving it away in order to grow their fan base.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:10 am
” So this levy isn’t a bad thing. It’s actually good for the people, and bad only for CRIA (who wanted it in the first p[lace, then changed their mind heh). ”
Sure, it’s great ….
Until everyone else want a piece too.
Movies
TV
Books
Pictures.
The vault is open, and the money just waiting to be handed out.
No, the levy is not a good thing.
December 15th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
It’s a good thing in the sense that it will help further increase the rate in which CD’s are becoming obsolete. Blank DVD’s are not subject to this tax/levy, and are cheaper than CD’s already (and that price gap will only increase with this added levy).
So buy DVD’s, flash memory, and mp3 players while they’re still levy free. May the Compact Disc R.I.P. very soon.