OTTAWA – The Copyright Board of Canada has firmly rejected an application by the Audio-Visual Licensing Agency (AVLA) and its Quebec equivalent (SOPROQ) for the implementation of an interim tariff on the reproduction of sound recordings by commercial radio stations.
In a decision released Friday, the Board disagreed with just about every argument put forward by the two agencies and told them they need not worry about collecting their money, once a new royalties regime for the years 2008 to 2011 is in place.
A statement of proposed royalties was filed last March. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters filed an objection, saying it would require radio stations to pay substantially more money to make technical reproductions that are secondary to playing music over the air, a right for which the broadcasters already pay.
In December, the agencies applied for an interim tariff, arguing they would suffer “deleterious effects” from delays caused by a lengthy proceeding. They also said they do not have the “tariff income” to fund the proceedings, and that retroactive collection of royalties would be difficult.
The Copyright Board disagreed, saying the arguments used to conclude that deleterious effects exist “are irrelevant, inapplicable, or just plain wrong”.
It also said the agencies jointly receive millions of dollars each year in licensing income and are thus “quite capable of supporting the financial burden of these proceedings”.
Moreover, it said, “commercial radio stations are not legion, nor are they fly-by-night operations. Retroactive collection of the royalties should not create significant difficulties. The risk of the [agencies] not getting their money is non-existent”.
