OTTAWA — The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) outlined in Federal Court this week a multi-layered defence against an attempt by wireless carriers to reclaim about $12 million in royalties paid out for the downloading of ringtones. It argued that a 2012 Supreme Court decision that BCE Inc., Telus Corp., Rogers Communications Inc. and Quebecor Inc. base much of their argument on — involving the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) versus SOCAN, where the court found that the downloading of music was not a “communication” subject to tariff — was not relevant to Tariff 24 on ringtones. However, SOCAN said that if the court determines that the above-mentioned case does in fact establish that ringtone downloads are not a...
OTTAWA — Lawyers representing two streaming music services told the Copyright Board of Canada in hearings this week that a request from the not-for-profit group that represents Canadian songwriters and music publishers to increase usage fees is too much to ask. The dispute that pits streaming music providers Pandora Media Inc. and Apple Inc. against the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) boils down to how the online music services should be defined and thus how their monthly royalty fee will be determined. SOCAN told the hearing on Monday that services...