JumpTV launches as both sides agree on Copyright Board timetable for tariff

After months of legal wrangling, JumpTV.com Canada Inc went live this week with eight television channels from around the world, but none from Canada. The ongoing copyright dispute over whether JumpTV has the right to retransmit local TV signals over the Internet means the company is so far limited to carrying European, Asian and some North American specialty TV channels for which it has licence deals. CFTPA sounds off on Jump debateComments in a recent National Post article by Internet lawyer Michael Geist about JumpTV have caused a small furor for suggesting that the Internet will increasingly become more bordered. In the May 1 article, Geist was quoted as saying, " been a perception, almost a truism, that the Internet is borderless, that what you do online has an immediate impact in every jurisdiction around the world. That may not necessarily be the case." On May 2, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association issued a release to rebut the argument that the JumpTV debate is about protectionism, but instead about Canadian content. "The arguments being debated in the public domain are missing the point and dangerously close to protectionism," CFTPA president and CEO Elizabeth McDonald is quoted as saying. "The idea that we would limit access to the Internet for Canadians is short-sighted. It also greatly concerns the association because it puts the creation of Canadian content at risk." Rather than talking about bordering the Internet, she says, the public should be more concerned about copyright pirates. "From the association’s point of view the issue is to ensure that innovation is not undercut by copyright pirates who take content and sell it at the expense of creators." Geist says the issue isn’t about Canadian content since the collective societies have the opportunity to support a re-transmission tariff which they currently oppose.The company insists this is an interim measure, however, saying its business plan still calls for the distribution "soon" of ABC, CBC, CBS, CTV, Fox, Global and NBC to Canadian web visitors. No date for the launch of those services has been announced. The company is notifying visitors to its web site that it will begin streaming those stations when the Copyright Board of Canada approves its application for a re-transmission tariff – the mechanism that will ensure programmers are properly compensated for their works (CNM, Apr. 5/01). Hearings into the granting of that tariff could stretch months, however, and likely won’t start until some time in November. Jump had originally asked for a two-day process to determine if it qualified as a re-transmitter, and how much a tariff should be. The collectives had argued for a months-long process. "It’s going to be a two-phase process," Jump lawyer Sunny Handa told Canadian NEW MEDIA. "It’s shorter than was originally drawn up by the other side. But, I think there’s probably a second, parallel track which will occur to settle this out of the process. We weren’t too upset that it will be a two-part process. " More procedural wrangling is expected as the role of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the National Association of Broadcasters is debated. The two organizations recently made bids to have their say on the Jump issue, but Handa has vehemently opposed their participation in the process. In an April 27 letter, the Jump lawyer argues that neither group is bringing new arguments to the table, and that their interests are adequately represented by the collective societies involved in the process. A decision on their participation is expected within the next couple of weeks. Until a re-transmission tariff is decided next winter, Jump will have to rely on content for which it has hammered out licencing agreements. The site currently features dozens of links to streaming television stations, while prominently displaying another eight stations on its front page.

JumpTV launches as both sides agree on Copyright Board timetable for tariff

News | 05/03/2001 4:00 am EDT

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