General

A Canadian iPod tax?

New copyright bill calls for MP3 player tax, expansion of “fair dealing”

In 2007, the Copyright Board of Canada had a plan that would see a $75 levy placed on music devices exceeding 30GB in capacity, which includes most mid-range iPods and MP3 players. Fortunately for the consumer, that proposal was shot down by a collection of retailers who would see sales drop as a result of the hefty price increase. Now, the levy is back in the form of a private member’s bill introduced by NDP copyright critic, Charlie Angus, a former musician. Bill C-499 would extend the existing private copying levy that was introduced in 1997—which taxes all writable media such as CDs and DVDs—to devices that can reproduce media, like MP3 players and computers. Angus is also calling for an expanded “fair dealing” principle, which would allow non-commercial copying for researchers, innovators and educators. “By updating it, we will ensure that artists are getting paid for their work, and that consumers aren’t criminalized for moving their legally obtained music from one format to another,” said Angus in a release.

CBC News

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