Canadian Copyright Board Won't Enforce Copying Levies

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

11 February 2004

The Copyright Board of Canada has announced that it does not have the power to enforce the payment of special tariffs on firms which import blank audio recording media such as cassettes, compact discs, mini discs, and digital recording devices.

The levies were introduced in 1999 to compensate copyright holders for lost revenue resulting from private copying of music and other content.

However, the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC), which represents recording artists, songwriters, publishers, and record companies, argues that many importers dodge the tariff, and asked the Copyright Board to enforce its collection.

In its recently issued decision on the matter, the Board suggested that it would be over-reaching its authority in attempting to force importers to pay the tax, explaining that the CPCC's argument "runs against strongly held administrative law values and principles, such as restricting a tribunal's powers to those that are expressly granted to it by statute or impliedly necessary to the proper exercise of its core competence".

Speaking to the LMG news service with regard to the Copyright Board's decision, a spokesman for the CPCC announced that:

"The Collective is disappointed that the Board doesn't want to impose the tariff." However, he added that:

"It's too early to comment, but you can count on the fact that further action will be taken."

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