Canadian Supreme Court Rules In Favour Of ISPs Over Royalties

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

02 July 2004

Much to the relief of internet service providers both domestically and internationally, the Supreme Court of Canada on Wednesday ruled that ISPs should not be obliged to pay royalties to songwriters and composers for music downloaded by their customers.

Industry group, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) had argued that Canadian ISPs and international providers serving Canadians should pay a tariff for peer-to-peer music downloads, in order to compensate artists and music companies for lost revenue.

However, critics of the campaign argued that if a tariff is to be imposed at all, it should be on the web sites which offer the songs, not on the ISPs, who merely provide access to the internet.

Delivering a 9-0 verdict, the Canadian Supreme Court supported the assertion that internet service providers are merely intermediaries, and are therefore not bound by the country's copyright legislation in this matter.

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