CRIA SUPPORTS SUPREME COURT ON PRIVATE COPYING Broadcaster Magazine The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) is welcoming the Supreme Court of Canada's decision on private copying as a positive step in clarifying unauthorized file sharing as an illegal activity.
"For years, those supporting unauthorized file sharing have misleadingly used the existence of the Private Copying Levy to justify illegitimate file sharing," says CRIA President Graham Henderson. "The Supreme Court says 'no such luck.'"
By denying leave to appeal the Federal Court of Appeal's December 2004 decision, the Supreme Court has today affirmed that digital audio recorders such as Apple iPods are not subject to the private copying levy because the hard drives embedded in them are "devices" rather than audio recording media. This means that unauthorized file sharing to hard drives of any kind - including those on home computers -- is illegal.
The decision follows closely on the introduction of federal legislation that updates Canada's copyright law, providing certainty for legitimate digital downloading services and bringing Canadian law in line with today's digital realities.
"The Supreme Court and federal legislators are aligning themselves with the silent majority of Canadians who view file sharing as an illegal activity," Henderson remarks. "Together, they are bringing certainty to the legal system. With certainty comes trust, and with trust comes investment, laying the groundwork for a robust legal market place. Now, it is just a matter of time."
Though the decision means that artists will not receive compensation for music obtained through unauthorized file sharing, Henderson points out that the levy has never properly compensated them for this black market activity anyway. The Private copying levy currently provides rights holders with approximately 2.8 cents per "lost sale" for copies made to blank CDs, and nothing for copies made to personal computers or, following today's decision, to digital audio recorders. At Puretracks or iTunes, rights holders receive 99 cents. Thus a single legal download sale compensates rights holders 50 times as much as the levy would.
"Artists will more than make up for any curtailment of the levy system as a result of increased sales in the legal market place," Henderson says. "The legal marketplace is far more efficient and compensatory than scraping nickels and dimes through a levy."
The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) promotes the interests of Canadian record companies and their partners, the artists. CRIA represents more than 95 per cent of all records produced and sold in Canada. |