A tariff on downloaded ringtones for cellphones has been declared invalid, but the wireless carriers who challenged it were denied the $12 million in paid royalties they were seeking back from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN). A Federal Court decision issued Friday said carriers, including BCE Inc., Telus Corp., Rogers Communications Inc. and Quebecor Inc., were right when they argued that the downloading of music "does not constitute a communication of a musical work to the public," according to a summary on the court's website. As a...
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...