OH CANADA!, Canada to TAX MP3 Players $21CAD per GB!

Seems The Canada copyright office is listening to the IFPI, the CRIA, And The RIAA.

They have issued a proposal to put a tariff on all recordable media for 2003-2004 that can be used for audio recording. This includes MP3 Players that are hard drive based such as the Archos Players (more on that later). Canadians will have to pay an outrageous amount of tax on almost every form of recordable or removable media and non removable media. Comments and objections are due by May 8th 2002. The rules are slated to go into effect Jan 1, 2003. What is worse the tax would be distributed as they see fit, no one is specifed. Want to be the first 5 filers to receive these funds are AOL Time Warner, Vivendi/Universal, BMG, Sony, and EMI?

Some would point out that in the US we have the AHRA. But those rates are not anywhere near those listed below, and don't cover audio cassettes, compact flash, SmartMedia, or hard drive based MP3 players. The rate in the US is approx 2% on Music CDs, and about $2.00US per CD recorder.

If you are Canadian, I would suggest buying you MP3 Players this year. Because Next year they will be out of sight price wise.
As an example: A $584 CAD (US $369) 20 gig Archos MP3 player would have $420 CDN (US $265) worth of tariffs levied upon it, making the price $1004 CDN! (US $634)

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From the PDF All figures are in Canadian Dollars. To convert to US Dollars, multiply by .631371 (answer is approx)

Section 3

(1) Subject to subsection (2), the levy shall be:

(a) 60¢ for each audio cassette of 40 minutes or more in length;

(b) 59¢ for each CD-R, CD-RW or each unit of any other type of recordable or rewritable compact disc of 100 megabytes or more of storage capacity;

(c) $1.23 for each CD-R Audio, CD-RW Audio or MiniDisc;

(d) 0.8¢ for each megabyte of memory in each removable electronic memory card, each removable flash memory storage medium of any type, or each removable micro-hard drive;

(e) $2.27 for each DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM or each unit of any other type of recordable or rewritable DVD;

(f) 2.1¢ for each megabyte of memory in each non-removable electronic memory card or each non-removable flash memory storage medium of any type incorporated into each MP3 player or into each similar device with internal electronic or flash memory that is intended for use primarily to record and play music;

(g) $21 for each gigabyte of memory in each non-removable hard drive incorporated into each MP3 player or into each similar device with an internal hard drive that is intended for use primarily to record and play music. (approx. $13.26 USD per GB)


In accordance with the provisions of the same subsection, the Board hereby gives notice that any person who wishes to object to the statement may file written objections with the Board, at the address indicated below, within 60 days of the publication of this notice, that is, no later than May 8, 2002.


CLAUDE MAJEAU
Secretary General
56 Sparks Street, Suite 800
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0C9
(613) 952-8621 (Telephone)
(613) 952-8630 (Facsimile)
majeau.claude@cb-cda.gc.ca (Electronic mail)

pirst fost

geez...anyone think this will really fly in canada? these tariffs seem outrageously high.

perhaps our friends up north are strapped for cash...

this is exciting.

I'm moving out of Canada.....

that sucks!!

And they're telling us that WE'RE the ones who are destroying the music industry! They should take a look in the mirror.

If anyone cares, heres a copy of the email I sent.

Hello,

I think these new tariffs and taxes on mp3 players and blank recordable media are way out of line. Once I buy a CD I have the right to make back up copies for myself or the freedom to listen to the music anywhere (whether it be through my computer) or on a portable player. Mp3 players are great portable devices which allow you to carry a lot of music with you at a time. Just because someone buys an mp3 player it doesn't mean they are downloading illegal music, it's just a way to use technology to our benefits. By implying these new taxes and tariffs in Canada, the whole country will slow down. We always pay higher taxes and prices here in Canada and to add additional costs are just blatantly unfair. I took this from the article:

"If you are Canadian, I would suggest buying you MP3 Players this year. Because Next year they will be out of sight price wise.
As an example: A $584 CAD (US $369) 20 gig Archos MP3 player would have $420 CDN (US $265) worth of tariffs levied upon it, making the price $1004 CDN! (US $634)"

These new taxes and tariffs are unfair. We pay enough as it is and I think it's a step backwards to try to stop new technologies. We should be embracing them and finding alternative methods of battling copy protection.

While you are trying to prevent piracy you are always preventing numerous uses of legit technology, simply making it too expensive for the average consumer to afford. It's as if you are passing sentence and saying the whole country is quilty, simply because select people are abusing these technologies. I feel this is a huge step backwards and apparently you've decided all Canadians are quilty and should be punished.

As I've said, there are legit uses for these technologies and those of us who are dependant on them, but while you try to stop certain activities you are crippling those of us who are using this new technology for legit, legal purposes. I hope you will re-consider these outrageous taxes and tariff for Canadians and look for other, alternative methods that would still enable those of us who use these technologies to continue to do so, without paying a hefty fee.

Thank you,
Mike

Keep in mind that in exchange for paying these tariffs, Canadians (like myslef) get the right to make private copies of music. I can legally download whatever music I want.

You could always make legal copies for yourself and it would still be illegal to download.

The only thing they're trying to do is stop piracy by major price increases.

I think Canada's portable music sales would completely die and they'd have a ton of imports from the US and Japan...

The players imported from other places would be effected too though.

Anything brought into the country, taxes are a bitch. Please email them, doesn't hurt to try.

BLAME CANADA!! BLAME CANADA!!

The rational is simple, it is the same thing that is going on with the DMCA. The real effect of this type of legislation is to push the independant artist aside and force them back into the gloves of the industry. The real fear on the part of the music industry is that they will lose their ability to place themselves between the artist and their fan base, when you consider that they already average an 85% take on recording contracts as they are today(US I'm not sure what the standard Canadien record contract reads like) The advent of of digital music and the web to promote it on has left them in a bit of a lurch. As for fees on media, this is very flawed logic. Blank media is just that, blank media, this assumes that the only use is piracy. Copying music for personal use has never been against the law, sharing music has only led to better sales for the artist, further, I would suggest looking at the way royalties from BMI/ASCAP are split in this country, the bottom 25% of airplay recieves no compensation, even though royalties are paid on their material, this money is given to those with condsiderably more airplay. I tried to discuss this with a BMI representative and I was informed that this was not the case, he held this line even as I produced my BMI contract and showed him the very page that defines this royalty split. I will admit it was somewhat entertaining to have someone deny the very existence of legal text shown directly to them. I am going to look into royalty payment in Canada and get back to you folks. Pardon the long response but this stuff really winds me up.

daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!!! pardon me but this really gonna screw the canadians ass backwards without the vasoline. If canadians want their players cheaper then this will lead them to buy their stuff from america and with the surge of rising electronic prices then this will definately take a considerable amount of money away from canada and stuff our american pockets. Not that i'm gonna complain since i myself am american and this would be potentially good news for our so-so economy but this is nothing but a big step backwards for the canadian economy. Besides, if these prices occur up in canada how can we be assured that the same thing won't occur here in america?? Furthermore i would be very interested as to the percentage of this money would go to the artists compared to the percentage towards the execs who just sit around watchin espn in their dirty hottubs eatin bon bon's and chips while lookin at their overpaid accounts at the expense of artists doing all the hard work. BaaaAAAaaaah, i just stumbled onto a topic that has me in a pissy ranting mood... gotta take deep breaths now

-blinks- BLAME CANADA!!

Price driven economy my ass!! I have always respected the way Canadians do business.. till now. That's okay tho... stores that operate on both sides of the border will be closing em up soon in the north, cuz people will indeed be waiting on the bridges/tunnels/ports of entries.. to get to the South and buy em cheap. And as long as they declare em.. the gov't can't do anything about it. I hate to see ANYONE taxed beyond reason tho, taxes are so misused by the govt's it's ridiculous!
This isn't a tax, it's a FEE.. call it what it is you jagoffs.. if the money isn't going to the govt'.. then by definition, it's NOT a tax, it's a damn fee.. and I agree. there are probably only going to be FIVE entities in the line to recieve shares..
nazi isn't just a word anymore, it's an expression of hate.. hrmmm...

Come on people, 20 Canadian dollars? That's like only 20 US cents!

What realty gets me is, why are they going to tax CD-RWs, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM & Memory Cards. These type of media cannot even be played or used in a conventional CD player and are just a form of storage!

So, I take a picture of my family and save it to a Memory Card and a music organization gets a cut? Or how about I save my data archives as a back up to CD-R-- why should an unrelated party get money for that? What is next, are they going to go after hard drives? After that, how about making it illegal to hum a tune?

By the way, I actually called Claude Majeau this afternoon and don’t blame him. The issue was proposed to the Copywrite Board of Canada by the real culprit; the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC). This is the organization that is proposing the tariff increase and they are the ones that will get the $$$. If you want to get in touch with them, here is the contact info:


Laura Davidson
Manager of Collections and Enforcement
Canadian Private Copying Collective
150 Eglinton East
Suite 403
Toronto, ON M4P 1E8

416.486.6832 ext 224 - Phone
416. 485.4373 - Fax
ldavison@cpcc.ca - Email


This all about $$$-- these people didn’t have the fortitude to protect their business model 5 years ago by embracing MP3s, now they want everyone to subsidize their business.

the cpcc? hrmm.. shouldn't that be ccpc? Canadian Copy Police Conglomerate? I know I know.. stupid joke.. sue me

We won't sue you, but maybe we'll tax you

i am a frawg in hilary rosens clothing (see icon). i will sue you.

This is interesting, I emailed and got a response, the typical "this is for the authors..etc"

so I asked how much would actually GO to the artists and she said this:

"CPCC, the body charged with distributing proceeds, is a non-profit
corporation formed by the rightsholder communities who are entitled to
receive payment. CPCC's non-profit status and this governance structure
guarantee minimum administrative overhead and maximum distributions."

Do you think that's just her way of saying "we're gonna take 97%"

sucks to be canadian

wait.. "non-profit corporation formed by the rightsholder communities who are entitled to receive payment"? .. sounds profit to me.. what are they gonna DO with the money.. feed the homeless? buy cd and mp3 players players for the less fortunate? either way I have to think you said it right about "we're gonna take 97%".. oh hell oh well.. just my opinion.....

Whenever they can't give you actual figures and just feed you bullshit like:

"minimum administrative overhead and maximum distributions"

It's the game of politics.

Another self-funding organization. The new taxes will be just enough to support their admin structure, and they'll end up needing additional subsidies from the gov't...that is, if Canadian government is as fucked up as ours.

fucking shit, that's just fucked up.

if us canucks buy our mp3 players off ebay, couldn't we avoid this whole tax shiznatch?

At last it gives a chance for the Canadian Reform Alliance Party (CRAP), who is Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, to attack the Government.

(See today's Ottawa Citizen - "Opposition Members attack royalty fees")

Eh - our internet broadcasting fees (25 cents per listener per month) is still cheaper than that of United States (0.14 cents per song per listener).

yiuchan, that's not their name anymore, it fits them well though. I gotta find today's Citizen though, I just read a few pages of the globe this morning..

OOPS, sorry, you are right. But the Reform Party is still a Crap party, no matter how it is named.

The liberals is not much better - did they promise to scrap the GST (to non-Canadians readers here, GST stands for Government Screwup Taxpayers)?

May be we'll need our native peoples to help us out this time - to smuggle computers rather than cigerattes.

- Fan of "Royal Canadian Air Farce"