VZCZCXRO0270
PP RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0071 0112118
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 112118Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7139
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS OTTAWA 000071
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CAN AND EEB/TPP/MTA/IPC
STATE PASS USTR FOR SULLIVAN, MELLE, AND GARDE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR CA
SUBJECT: CANADIAN COURT STRIKES DOWN IPOD LEVY
1. (U) Federal Court of Appeals of Canada ruled on January 11
that the Copyright Board of Canada does not have the
authority to place a copyright levy on iPods and other
digital music players. It is possible that the board will
appeal this decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. The
Copyright Board had planned to charge a levy of up to $75CAD
on digital music players sold in Canada. This levy, similar
to ones on blank CDs, would "compensate" Canadian musicians
(and only Canadian musicians) for music sales allegedly lost
to piracy.
2. (SBU) Most retailers and consumers are pleased by the
decision, and it may inspire renewed calls for the Government
to make format shifting (e.g., moving music from a legally
owned CD to an iPod) clearly legal. Format shifting is
currently a legal gray area in Canada. Although the Canadian
music industry is concerned about piracy, many industry
insiders, including the Canadian Recording Industry
Association (CRIA), believe that a levy on digital music
players is a poor solution. Because a levy forces consumers
to pay compensation for downloaded music, a legal argument
might be made that the levy legalizes unlimited file sharing.
This legal theory has yet to be tested in a Canadian court.
Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada
WILKINS