The constitutionality of the levy scheme on blank CDs may again be debated judicially if the Supreme Court of Canada opts to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling by the Retail Council of Canada (RCC), supported by a phalanx of deep-pocketed retailers. The large chains of stores filed a leave to appeal application with the highest court on February 14, two months after the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) found that the royalty scheme that applies a hefty levy to blank media such as CDs to compensate music copyright holders was not a tax. On the same day, the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC), which administers the levy, filed its own application for an appeal of the same December 14 ruling, arguing that the earlier court ruling improperly removed the levy on a broad swath of devices, including a $25 surcharge on appliances such as the Apple iPod.

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

Take a free trial or subscribe to The Wire Report now.