SOCAN files its take on Tariff 22
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) filed its leave to cross appeal the Federal Court of Appeal’s Tariff 22 decision with the Supreme Court of Canada on October 14, as well as its opposition to the leave to appeal filed by the cable industry and ISPs (CNM Aug. 21/02). The copyright collective argues that the Tariff 22 decision, which deals with royalties on music available on the Internet, doesn’t raise any issues of national importance. It also disputes Bell Canada, the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, and the Canadian Cable Television Association’s take on caching, the standard of review in the Federal Court’s decision, and on cross-border issues. But, says SOCAN, if the Supreme Court does hear the case, it wants leave to cross appeal on the issues of whether or not ISPs communicate musical works in the legal sense. The matter is now in the court’s hands, and a decision on whether to hear the parties’ appeals won’t likely be made for months. Canadian NEW MEDIA will have full details in its next issue.