Canadian music group wants blanket annual royalty from ISPs [ip]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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From: David Akin <dakin () ctv ca>
To: "'declan () well com'" <declan () well com>
Subject: Canadian Music rights holds want blanket annual royalty from ISPs
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2003 08:39:01 -0500

Hi Declan --

The hits just keep on comin' up here in the Great White North.

The Supreme Court here will hear the case Wednesday DEC 3. Judgement usually
follows about six months after oral arguments are presented.

Music group aims to charge Internet users

Canada's songwriters will ask the Supreme Court of Canada next week to force
Internet service providers to pay them royalties for the millions of digital
music files downloaded each year by Canadians.
The case has broad ramifications for the Internet industry in Canada, legal
experts say.
"This is the big case for the Internet. This will set the position on how we
are going to treat Internet service providers, whether they are going to be
seen as people who are responsible in some way for content that goes through
their services," said Mark Perry, a professor of law and a professor of
computer science at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont.
If successful, the legal pleadings of the Society of Composers, Authors, and
Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) could open the door to other rights
holders -- groups as diverse as software publishers or Hollywood movie
distributors -- who could use SOCAN's precedent to force Internet service
providers (ISPs) to collect royalties for their members . . .

[Short version in Globe and Mail at: http://tinyurl.com/wvq0
[Full version plus link to TV version of same at CTV online:
http://tinyurl.com/wvq6
[Slashdotters toss it around: http://tinyurl.com/wvqc]

David Akin
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CTV News
The Globe and Mail
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Office: 416.313.2503
Mobile: 416.528.3819
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Complete Contact Information at
http://www.davidakin.com
Blog: http://davidakin.blogware.com

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