[Canada] Return of the "iPod tax"?

[Rob2687]

Retailers call iPod levy a 'tax'

July 20, 2007

The fight to tax the iPod is far from over.

The Copyright Board of Canada announced a decision yesterday rebutting a ruling made by the Federal Court in 2004 that a private copying levy should applied to iPods and other digital audio recorders, beginning in 2008.

In the decision, the board sided with an argument raised by the Canadian Private Copyright Collective that the Federal Court's ruling that "a digital audio recorder is not a medium" applied only to the storage media installed inside it and did not take into account the digital audio device in its entirety.

"The private copying regime revolves around a single definition, that of audio recording medium. Devices are not excluded from that definition, they are simply not mentioned. A device can be a medium as long as it stores relatively permanent reproductions of sound recordings," the Copyright Board said in its ruling.

Barring an appeal, the door is now open for an MP3 player levy to be introduced effective January 1, 2008. The CPCC has already filed a motion with the Copyright Board that the levy be $5 for each recorder with less than 1 GB of memory, $25 for each device with more than 1 GB but below 10 GB of memory, $50 for each recorder with more than 10 GB and below 30 GB, and $75 for each recorder with more than 30 GB of memory.

Kim Furlong, vice-president of federal government relations with the Retail Council of Canada who opposed the CPCC's argument, says that in light of the Copyright Board's decision, their legal counsel is reviewing their options on what their next steps will be.

"Basically, we believe that this is an unnecessary … hidden tax. It's not beneficial to the consumer or the retail industry," Ms. Furlong said.

David Basskin, a member of the Canadian Private Copyright Collective's board of directors, welcomed the Copyright Board's decision.

"Our view has always been that if you're using our copyrights and getting value from it, it's a matter of simple fairness that those who create those works should receive some compensation."

The Copyright Board has gone further in its decision and stated that it believes that cellphones and personal computers are also not exempt from the Copyright Act and might also be subject to levies of their own in the future.

"A thing that is ordinarily used by individual consumers to make private copies should not be excluded from the private copying regimen for the sole reason that is has other uses," the Copyright Board said.

University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist said that the Copyright Board's willingness to extend a levy to iPods will catch many by surprise.

"We're in for a long legal fight over this. There's is certainly a likelihood of appeal and given that the Federal Court has already rendered one decision on a similar issue, or the same issue depending on who you believe, it could be years of litigation until it's resolved," Mr. Geist said.

The move to collect a levy on recordable products has always been a contentious issue over the past several years.

The CPCC collected more than $4-million from iPod and other MP3 player sales before the Federal Court rendered the levy invalid on December, 2004.

The money was intended to compensate artists whose works were pirated onto the devices.

The levy, which was collected by the CPCC, has long been applied to blank, recordable products such as CDs, tapes, and mini-discs. But in December, 2003, the Copyright Board said it would begin applying the levy to MP3 players.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...Technology/home

Edited July 21, 2007 by Rob2687

[trek]

Screw them... With our strong dollar it'd probably be cheaper for me to drive down to the US and buy an iPod, especially in states that have no state tax (Oregon) and bring it back. ;)

[Ash]

75$ seems steep on a over 30gig device. I think that high of a price would curb many sales, even 50$ on a 30gig iPod Video, would put me off.

Unless they extended the levy to cover video too, I don't see this as a fair trade off because not everybody would be buying these devices purely for mp3s... but then again theres the same argument for blank cds too.

[ShaneSparky_YYZ]

Well since i'm only an hour from buffalo, ny i'll just go there and buy my media starting then.

It's nice to see the Cdn dollar is on par with the US pretty much, that makes it even better :)

Stupid decision, but thank the big fat cats (CRIA) i'm sure they're behind it.

[Hankyone]

Am i the only one tired of seeing "iPod" as a synonym to "Music Player"

[sundayx Veteran]

Am i the only one tired of seeing "iPod" as a synonym to "Music Player"

No, but I see "Canada" as the "RIAA".

[dr.bisho]

Screw them... With our strong dollar it'd probably be cheaper for me to drive down to the US and buy an iPod, especially in states that have no state tax (Oregon) and bring it back. ;)

STrong $$$.... KD is stronger, and i dont think its cheaper in here

[trek]

STrong $$$.... KD is stronger, and i dont think its cheaper in here

Considering $1 CAD = $0.957 USD, and we pay 13% tax. I'd say it'd be cheaper since items are priced pretty much the same down in the US as up here.

[ViperSnake]

Don't you remember that Rio lawsuit back in 1998? They classified that Rio MP3 player as a computer perhiperal because the player itself is replicating files ALREADY STORED on the computer in the first place.

[DrunkenMaster]

Shouldn't they also tax Cell phones? Maybe everyone doesn't own an MP3 player, but ain't too many business people / general public who don't own a Blackberry (some of which have MP3 capability) or a Cell phone with MP3 playability. Tick off enough of the right people (rich and influential) and this policy of taxing MP3 players is going to come crashing down.

I don't get the point of it. Besides, it only helps some artists (the bigger ones) and many artists are complaining they've never received any money. I might remember that Geist once wrote the levy fees collected are just sitting in a bank account.

I've only ever supported or listened to about 5 Canadian artists. For those, I have all their albums. To the rest, I won't even download or listen to their music. So what the hell am I paying a levy for anyways?

[Dazog]

Just buy from the USA from now on, hurt the retailers and they will start complaining they are losing business.

Since the dollars are almost on par.

Import away!

[Fred Derf Veteran]

If the $75 levy came with a share all you want from any music trading site and we won't prosecute clause then that may be perfectly acceptable.

In Canada, our blank media levies allow us to borrow a friend's CD and make a copy for our own personal use. It is ambiguous how this applies in the world of digital file sharing. Until the rules are clear then there shouldn't be a digital levy.

[chconline Veteran]

Well, that makes "pirating" not piracy then.

[NienorGT]

Humm... if it let me getting mp3 via P2P and usenet without getting sued, I don't care :p

[daz-]

I remember actually getting a cheque from the Canadian Government a few years back when the first attempt at this was overruled. I can't believe they are stupid enough to try this again.