Copyright Board of Canada Certifies Private Copying Tariffs For 2015 and 2016

Posted on
January 13, 2015
Tagged as
CIMA News, copyright board of canada, private copying, tariffs

COPYRIGHTBOARD

 

The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC), established in 1999, is the not-for-profit organization responsible for collecting and distributing private copying levies on behalf of its member collectives. Representing songwriters, music publishers, recording artists and record labels, the member collectives represented by the CCPC include SOCAN, CMRRA, SODRAC and Re:Sound.

While the CPCC is the collecting body for the private copying levy, the actual tariff associated with the levy is set by the Copyright Board of Canada, as per the directives of the Copyright Act. The Copyright Board of Canada's responsibility is to determine the types of media that the private copying levy is applicable to, the rate for each type of media as well as other administrative details.

On December 12, the Copyright Board of Canada issued the associated private copying tariff levies for the years 2015 and 2016. You can view the full-text of the decisions on the Copyright Board of Canada's website, but we've summarized the key points below.

  • The private copying levy applies to the sale of "blank audio recording media" in Canada. Practically, this means the sale of any CD-R, CD-RW, CD-R Audio and CD-RW Audio - products otherwise commonly known as blank CDs.
  • The right of 'private copying' refers to the "reproduction for private use of musical works embodied in sound recordings, of performers' performances of such works or of sound recordings in which such works and performances are embodied." This right comes from section 83 of the Copyright Act. [Copyright Board of Canada - Decision]
  • What did they decide? The Copyright Board of Canada decided to keep the rate stable, and certified a rate of $0.29 per blank CD for the years 2015 and 2016. 
  • How will this levy be distributed by the CPCC? The CPCC distributes the amount it collects, minus the operating costs according to the following formula:
    • 58.2% goes to eligible authors through SOCAN, CMRRA and SODRAC.
    • 23.8% goes to eligible performers via Re:Sound,
    • and 18% goes to eligible makers also via Re:Sound.
  • It's also worth mentioning that the rate of the private copying levy has remained at $0.29 per blank CD since 2008-2009. [Canadian Private Copying Collective]
  • The decision does note, however, that "the trends in private copying onto CDs are clearly moving downward, if in a non-linear fashion." It goes even further to suggest that "absent a dramatic change in behaviour", CDs will likely cease to qualify as a "medium ordinarily used for private copying at some point in the future." While they note that private copying behaviour will still allow CDs to qualify for 2015 and 2016, they do raise a warning flag about 2017. [Copyright Board of Canada - Decision]

 

For more information, please consult the Tariff document by clicking here or the Decision document by clicking here.

 

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