Thank you for visiting my Media Levy Objection page

The first page about this I wrote is the March, 2002 Digital Rag page. It outlines the reasons for the rest of this section quite nicely.

While I'm transitioning to the new CMS you'll find much of the background in the older page style via the following menu:

2005-2006
2003-2004
Levy Links

My formal objection is here in PDF form and here in web form (which loses some formatting)
A Press Release is also available. Get the PDF reader if you need it: Adobe Acrobat Reader

A preliminary version is in my April page and you should also take a look at the links on the Levy Links page for more information and opinions.

I have also created an outline for those who don't want to wade through the formal document. It contains a timeline and pointers to various documents I and other objectors (and CPCC) have had to create during this process.

I've asked you here to help me, yourself, and other Canadians deal with what has become a major threat to the technology industries in Canada. It originated with what originally to many seemed a good idea, or at least not a bad idea; the blank audio recording media levy as enshrined in the Copyright Act.

Copying for Private Use

80. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the act of reproducing all or any substantial part of

(a) a musical work embodied in a sound recording,

(b) a performer's performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording, or

(c) a sound recording in which a musical work, or a performer's performance of a musical work, is embodied

onto an audio recording medium for the private use of the person who makes the copy does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in the musical work, the performer's performance or the sound recording.

This seems to be an excellent example of the "law of unintended consequences" where changes in a law in response to one problem cause more problems down the road. In this case, the law was created in one technological environment, and is now being applied in what has turned out to be a completely different environment due to the rapid changes in the use of E-commerce via the Internet and other things such as the Free Trade Act with the U.S. and other countries.

In my opinion another factor is the interjection into the process of the free market of a self-serving entity (CPCC) with no other stake in the process than to increase the amount of money flowing via their particular conduit to the copyright holders at the expense of any other conduit and not necessarily in the best interests of the copyright holders themselves.

Right of Remuneration

81. (1) Subject to and in accordance with this Part, eligible authors, eligible performers and eligible makers have a right to receive remuneration from manufacturers and importers of blank audio recording media in respect of the reproduction for private use of

(a) a musical work embodied in a sound recording

(b) a performer's performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording; or

(c) a sound recording in which a musical work, or a performer's performance of a musical work, is embodied.

82. (1) Every person who, for the purpose of trade, manufactures a blank audio recording medium in Canada or imports a blank audio recording medium into Canada

(a) is liable, subject to subsection (2) and section 86, to pay a levy to the collecting body on selling or otherwise disposing of those blank audio recording media in Canada; and

(b) shall, in accordance with subsection 83(8), keep statements of account of the activities referred to in paragraph (a), as well as of exports of those blank audio recording media, and shall furnish those statements to the collecting body.

In studying this matter (after getting madder than hell over the concepts proposed by CPCC and their consequences to businesses I work with and have knowledge about) I believe I have uncovered not only a fatal flaw in CPCC's calculations on which they base their proposals, but also what may turn out to be a reasonable answer (or set of answers) so that all sides can live with what probably is in the long run a "not bad" idea; that of some sort of levy in general, and one on blank audio media in particular.

Please read my formal objection and form your own opinions. There are notes and musings in my Digital Rag issues for March and April as well.

Others have created web sites and objection documents:

	www.cb-cda.gc.ca/new-e.html Copyright Board's Web Page
	www.cpcc.ca CPCC's Web Site
	http://www.sycorp.com/levy/index.htm Sycorp's Media Levy Page (has online petition - please sign it)
	http://pcbuyersguide.com/hardware/storage/2003_Levy_FAQ.html Graeme Bennett's FAQ page - lots of great information

As a note about the fact that music publishers force the purchasing public to take unwanted songs along with the ones they want:

From: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/ct01068e.html

Tied-selling exists when a supplier, as a condition of supplying a particular product, requires or induces a customer to buy a second product. It may also occur when the supplier prevents the customer from using a second product with the supplied product.

It is my opinion that if CPCC treats each track on a record as a separate "product" then the public should be able to purchase each separately - and at this time they cannot.

Media Levy 2005-2006

Sunday, July 12 2009 @ 10:08 AM PDT

The 2005-2006 round of the Media Levy proposal by CPCC (Canadian Private Copying Collective) is now out. According to the copy of the Supplement to the Canada Gazette I received (as a former objector) from the Copyright Board (page 4, top) "The tariffs proposed by CPCC for the year 2005 are identical to the tariffs certified by the Copyright Board for the years 2003 and 2004"

I'll be filing my objection before the deadline of June 9, 2004, and you may think about doing the same. Last round we had 100 objectors initially, which winnowed down to about 30 by the time the hearings actually went ahead - mostly due to the fact that many didn't really understand the objection process and how onerous it might be. The comments of the 70 who dropped out of the formal process were still "heard", and I believe many were taken into consideration - the rest were likely "outside of the jurisdiction of the Board" due to being of the nature of rants against the concept of the levy at all.

This year's round promises to be far different from that of the last one. Last time the increases asked for were downright exorbitant, as was the proposed extension of the levy to media normally used for purposes other than audio (camera flash-cards, etc.)

This year I expect that external factors affecting the market as well as new studies and information on the actual effects of "downloading" on music sales will be the focus of efforts by the objectors to roll back the current levy. I don't think we can rest on our laurels and simply accept the status quo. In addition, there are a number of treaties that Canada is or soon will be signatory to that tilt the playing field farther in the direction of Digital Rights Management facilities and laws that will make private copying all but unfeasible. The CPCC needs to be told (and through them the music industry) "DRM or Levy - pick one." If, as seems to be the case, they are picking DRM and enforcement, then they must back off on the levy. Too bad for CPCC.

My Web Log at blog.pacdat.net has a Media Levy section where I'll be posting items as I find them. If you have information you want to share or opinions on what I have to say (or articles you want to post yourself) please visit me there.

richard

Post a comment

Levy Links

Saturday, July 11 2009 @ 10:33 AM PDT

Levy Links

ASAP CD Solutions - Andrea Kopplhuber

Canadian Government Copyright Board web site

CPCC (the bad guys)

Sycorp web site's special levy section

www.sycorp.com Petition Page

Canadian Coalition for Fair Digital Access (some of the good guys)

Canadian Taxpayers Federation (not directly related, but a good place to go)

http://janisian.com/article-internet_debacle.html A great article by an artist caught in the middle of the whole problem

http://janisian.com/article-fallout.html a follow up to the one above, equally as good and informing

And some other related Links

http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/juggling_with_packets.txt - you'll love this one - it shows how to store information in the "latency" inherent in the Internet and its servers and processes. I made the similar observation that large amounts of data can be stored in a beam of microwave energy bounced from the moon, and that this could lead CPCC to levy on microwave ovens - since they can be made to do this.

http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200304/msg00129.html very readable link by a musician and Tim O'Reilly (of the book company)

http://www.wipo.org/eng/diplconf/distrib/94dc.htm WIPO Treaty that started all this

http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/overview.html The Berne Convention it (WIPO) is based upon

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/rp01100e.html The Canadian Copyright Reform web site

	http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/pics/rp/framework.pdf Framework for Copyright reform document (PDF)
	http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/pics/rp/digital.pdf Consultation Document on Digital Copyright (PDF)

Copyright in a Frictionless World by Brendan Scott An excellent dissertation on the origins of copyright opens this eye-opening paper.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/30/1072546532286.html Paper on the (minimal) effects of copying on CD sales.

Technology Related to Storage

http://www.research.ibm.com/resources/news/20020611_millipede.shtml IBM's breakthrough storage technology - using dimples like punch cards but trillions of times smaller

http://sci.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18172.html more on Millipede

Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario called "Privacy and Digital Rights
Management (DRM): An Oxymoron?" http://www.ipc.on.ca/english/pubpres/papers/drm.pdf

Post a comment

CRTC Ruling - 2003 - December 12 - Media Levy

Saturday, July 11 2009 @ 10:29 AM PDT

December 12, 2003 - Finally! The ruling - and I have to say it is better than I expected. The old levy is continued unchanged for this 2 years (ending Dec. 31, 2004) but adds a levy on "digital audio recorders" (aka MP3 players) of from $2 to $25 per unit depending on how much storage they have when sold.

	http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/decisions/c12122003-b.pdf is the full text of the ruling
	http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2003/20031213/html/suppl-e.html is the Gazette version of the ruling
	http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/news/c20032004nr-e.html is the press release
	http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/news/c20032004fs-e.html is the Board's "Fact Sheet"
	http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/news/c20032004list-e.html is the list of participants (including yours truly)

Discussion on the objectors' list and http://www.digital-copyright.ca (another list I subscribe to) currently revolves around the fact that in this ruling the Board has specifically singled out DVD-R/RWs as not being eligible for use for private copying since it is a blank audio medium but the Board has not imposed a levy on it. This ruling brings up all sorts of potential "gotchas" for the future, including things like the Board ruling (it hasn't yet) that standard hard drives (like the ones in your PC) are blank audio media but not leviable and therefore not eligible for use for private copying - i.e. copying music to them would be against the law.

This will take a bit of time to digest the ramifications of. In the mean time we're also wondering when the next round (for the 2005-2006 timeframe) is going to get going since this one is almost a year late and there is only a year left to get the next levy in place.

November 28, 2003 an excellent interview regarding copyright and creator's compensation with some points relevant to the item below. It appears that maybe Canada has the right idea with the Media Levy and the potential to "levy" ISPs in some manner. I'll explore this and get back to you. Jim Griffin was interviewed by Mikael Pawlo

November 27, 2003 Music group (in Canada) aims to charge Internet users

"Canada's songwriters will ask the Supreme Court of Canada next week to force Internet service providers to pay them royalties for the millions of digital music files downloaded each year by Canadians."

The discussion continues. Yesterday (July 7, 2003) two of the talk-show hosts on my favourite talk radio (CKNW.COM) spent time discussing both the RIAA's going after individuals with large shared music directories and the Blank Media Levy. I spoke to Bill Good and followed up by e-mail. Some of the people who phoned in had completely wrong information about the levy.

Post a comment

February 2, 2003 - CRTC Hearing

Saturday, July 11 2009 @ 10:28 AM PDT

Copyright Board Hearing Room 56 Sparks St., Ottawa	It is Sunday, February 2, 2003. I have finished my personal testimony before the Board in Ottawa on Friday, January 31, 2003. The statement of case document and my PowerPoint presentation with notes, (and original ppt file) both submitted as formal evidence to the board, are presented here. I'll also post versions of the other evidentiary items I have sent to the board as soon as I can.
I have to say that the presentation went well, although was a bit rushed for time. I was scheduled to start at 2PM on the Friday afternoon but due to continued questioning of the previous witness, didn't get started until about 2:40 or so.	Tom Trottier

From comments by others in the hearing, there are points that I made that are both new and "interesting" and at least one (the comparison of levy amounts with other Act mandated tariffs such as the $100/year for a community broadcast license) that raised the chair's eyebrows and elicited a "that's interesting" comment.

Post a comment

Thank you for visiting my Media Levy Objection page

Others have created web sites and objection documents:

Media Levy 2005-2006

Levy Links

CRTC Ruling - 2003 - December 12 - Media Levy

February 2, 2003 - CRTC Hearing

Article Topics

Old Menu

P-Zip Marketing

The Digital Rag

Popular tags at this site

Pacdat Articles