FCA rules ringtone tariff legal

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled on January 9 that Canada's wireless operators have to pay a fee, known as Tariff 24, when subscribers download a ringtone. Proposed by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) and certified by the Copyright Board of Canada in August 2006, Tariff 24 calls for a royalty to be paid when a ringtone is downloaded. The act of downloading the ringtone is considered a communication to the public by telecommunications for which a fee is payable to music rights holders, according to section 3(1)(f) of the Copyright Act. This tariff is separate from that regarding the reproduction rights associated with making a ringtone. The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility appealed the Copyright Board ruling, arguing that the act of downloading a ringtone by a subscriber didn't constitute a communication to the public by telecommunications because downloading is done by individuals and is a private communication between the subscriber and the carrier. As well, they contended that ringtone rights holders shouldn't be allowed to collect a tariff twice for the same ringtone. However, they did concede that music reproduction rights didn't necessarily cover the transmission rights associated with the ringtone. The court disagreed with the applicants' arguments with respect to the act of downloading being a private communication and therefore not to the public. "If a wireless carrier were to transmit a particular ringtone simultaneously to all customers who have requested it, that transmission would be a communication to the public. It would be illogical to reach a different result simply because the transmissions are done one by one, and thus at different times," reads the decision. The FCA ruling settles a dispute regarding ringtones downloaded during the 2003-2005 period. Under Tariff 24's provisions, carriers are required to pay 6% of the ringtone download price or a minimum of $0.06 per ringtone downloaded to SOCAN.

FCA rules ringtone tariff legal

News | January 11, 2008

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