OTTAWA—Responding to a Conservative government news conference Tuesday, Liberal MP and industry critic Marc Garneau said they party does not support extending the private copying levy to digital devices and that the government’s claims are a “total fabrication.” 

“That is a total fabrication,” Garneau said. “We do not favour the iPod levy.” 

At a news conference outside an HMV store in a downtown Ottawa mall Tuesday, Heritage Minister James Moore and Industry Minister Tony Clement reiterated their staunch opposition to the levy proposal.

“We are entirely opposed to this idea of imposing a $75 tax on iPods, Blackberrys, iPhones, cellphones, laptops, memory sticks and hard drives. This is what the Liberals want to do. This is what the Bloc Québécois wants to do. This is what the NDP wants to do,” Moore said.

“They [opposition parties] want to impose a $75 tax on all of these items and we are here to say the government of Stephen Harper is against this new tax.” 

The ministers have described the levy as an “iPod tax.” Standing behind them at the news conference was a team of young people wearing T-shirts bearing a “ban the iPod Tax” logo.

The private copying levy has emerged as an issue at the legislative committee on Bill C-32 as the parties of the House study the Conservative government’s copyright reform bill with a view to amending it.

One question for the opposition parties is whether to amend the bill to extend the private copying levy to cover digital media players. Although the issue has emerged, there are some questions about whether such an amendment would be permitted given that it may contradict the intent of the bill.

Clement said the government’s copyright legislation, Bill C-32, provides sufficient protection for creators.

“We have crafted [Bill C-32] to be a fair balance by legalizing many of Canadian’s everyday online activities and ensuring at the same time that creators have the protections that they need to earn a living for their work in the digital age,” he said.

“The easier it is to access creative content, the more it will be used and the more it will be enjoyed.”

Garneau said the Liberals do not support the levy and are working on an alternate solution.

“We are working with artists to find an alternate solution,” he said.

“We want to find a long-term solution that is device-independent, technology-neutral, and recognizes the principle that artists need to be compensated so that we don’t have to, three years from now, say, ‘What do we do now?’ People are no longer using iPods to listen to music.”

Liberal MP and heritage critic Pablo Rodriguez told reporters on Parliament Hill Tuesday that the Conservatives should apologize for misstating the Liberal party position.

The federal government established the private copying levy in 1998 to legalize the private copying of music and compensate music rights holders for copying. But right now it only applies a levy of 29 cents per blank CD, 24 cents per blank audiocassette, and 29 cents for a MiniDisc.

The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC), which administers the private copying levy, says the amount added to the cost of digital media players would range from $2 to $25, as established by the Copyright Board.

It has also said that the government could set a ceiling for the levy and issue regulations limiting which devices the levy applies to. 

In 2007, the CPCC proposed that the levy range from $5 for devices with less than 1 GB of memory to $75 for devices with more than 30 GB.

In the past, the Liberals have been coy about whether they support extending the levy to digital media players. The party says it wants to find a way to compensate artists, but has refrained from taking a public position on the issue.

Another proposal floating around is a levy on Internet service providers (ISPs) to compensate artists and rights holders. 

Last April, the Liberals voted in support of a motion in the House of Commons that recommended the government amend the Copyright Act “so that the definition of ‘audio recording medium’ extends to devices with internal memory, so that the levy on copying music will apply to digital music recorders as well, thereby entitling music creators to some compensation for the copies made of their work.”

But following the vote, the Liberals said they only supported the motion in principle and that the vote did not represent a policy position.

NDP MP and digital affairs critic Charlie Angus told reporters Tuesday that the suggestion of a $75 levy is “fiction.”

Angus added that the levy would not apply to cellphones or cars, as the government has suggested. 

“The levy has existed. It didn’t kill the cassette industry, it didn’t kill the CD industry, it’s not going to tax cars in the modern era … I don’t know anybody who buys a car to record music on,” he said.

“Copyright’s a serious issue. The fact that $25 million is being lost to artists because of the loss of the levy is serious business, so let’s sit down and get back to work.”

Angus said the cost of the levy would be about $5 for an iPod but could also be based on a percentage of the cost.

Bloc Québécois MP and heritage critic Carole Lavallée said in a release Tuesday the ministers misinformed the public when they said modernizing the private copying regime would mean a $75 fee on digital devices.

Lavallée said the fee would be $2 to $25 per device. She added that only devices whose primary purpose is to store music, such as iPods, would be affected.

But industry groups came out Tuesday in support of the Conservative position.

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) said in a release the wireless industry opposes the extension of the private copying regime to mp3 players and smart phones.

“We don't agree that law-abiding consumers should have to pay twice—once to legally download a song, and once again for the right to play it on a MP3 player or smartphone,” Bernard Lord, president and CEO of the CWTA, said in a release.

“There are also lots of uses for digital media players and smart phones that don't involve playing recorded music, and this proposal would have unfairly penalized consumers that way too. The Government definitely got this right.”

The Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright (BCBC) said in a release Tuesday it “strongly supports” the Conservative government’s stance.

BCBC members include the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP), Bell Canada, Google Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp.

“The members of the BCBC are concerned that such a levy would be unfair and unworkable,” the coalition said.

“First, such a levy would force all consumers and businesses to pay an arbitrary fee for music regardless of whether they use their devices for such a purpose. Second, proponents of these kinds of levies fail to recognize that consumers who buy music from legitimate online music services, such as iTunes and Puretracks, already pay for the right to make copies of those songs on their digital devices.”

BCBC also said devices used only for music are declining in popularity, and charging a levy for music on smart phones or other multi-use devices would be “inappropriate.”

“A new levy on digital devices would impede the development of legitimate markets and would do nothing to address concerns about copyright infringement,” the coalition said.

news@thewirereport.ca

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article noted that Lavallée said the levy would be $2.25. Lavallée said the levy would be between $2 and $25; and the CPCC proposed levy fees up to $75 in 2007, not 1997. 

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