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Sorting Through the Copyright Levy Proposals

By Michael Geist

The Canadian Private Copying Collective appeared before the C-32 Legislative Committee on Monday, leaving Access Copyright and the CACN with secondary roles as MPs devoted most of the discussion to the levy issue. While the levy vs. tax characterization discussion came up, it seems to me that there will be mounting confusion over the competing levy proposals.  The CPCC made their pitch, but there are now multiple proposals for extending the levy or creating entirely new levies (some varations are supported by the same organizations).  The key proposals:

1.    CPCC: The CPCC is arguing for an extension of the current levy to digital audio recorders (ie. iPods).  The collective applied the levy to iPods years ago, before it was struck down by the courts.  At the hearing, it noted that revenues from the blank CD levy are shrinking.  It says the levy on iPods would likely range from $2 to $25 per device.  When asked whether this meant that consumers would be asked to pay twice - once for the original CD and a second time via the levy - the collective unapologetically answered yes, maintaining that consumers should be asked to pay for every copy they make. Since the proposal is just an extension of the existing levy, it would only apply to sound recordings.

2.   CCC: The Creators' Copyright Coalition, which includes ACTRA, SOCAN, the Songwriters Association of Canada, and the Writers Guild of Canada, published its position paper earlier this week.  In addition to seeking an extension of the current levy, it also supports the creation of an entirely new levy to cover reproduction for private purposes. Designed to compensate for copying such as time shifting and backup copies, the CCC argues for the creation of a "copyright levy to compensate creators of all types of works for private copying to any personal device or medium ordinarily used by consumers."  This view is echoed by some of the member groups - the WGC says the "private copying regime must be extended so that it applies to all works on all distribution and storage devices."  In other words, this seeks to cover everyone and everything - audio and video works for copying on all distribution and storage devices.

3.   SAC: The Songwriters Association of Canada, which is also part of the CCC position paper, has called for the creation of an Internet service provider levy in return for the full legalization of peer-to-peer file sharing.  Unlike the other proposals, the SAC levy would be an opt-in system.

Update: The SAC writes to add the following clarifications on its proposal:

1. we are working on a model that is now a business to business solution
2. we are talking about a licensing model - not a tax or a levy
3. we are hoping to have ISPs as partners
4. our model is an OPT OUT option

If taken together, the proposals would result in levies on all devices, media, and on Internet services. Separately, some groups are also calling for an ISP levy to fund Canadian content.

Full post as published by Michael Geist on December 08, 2010 (boomark / email).