Copyright Board sticks with multi-million-dollar royalty increase

OTTAWA – After being ordered by the Federal Court of Canada to re-examine its decision on increasing the rates radio stations pay for music, the Copyright Board of Canada decided today to maintain the rate increase it imposed in October 2005. At the time of the original decision (which will see millions of dollars more in royalties going to the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada for Canadian broadcasters’ use of music in 2003 to 2007) the CAB called it “egregious and flawed.”Radio broadcasters warned of layoffs, too, because of the rate increase. On October 14, 2005,...