TORONTO – Saying it may appeal, SOCAN today registered its complaints about Thursday’s CRTC subscription radio decision by joining in on the parade of press releases.
“In SOCAN’s opinion, this decision fails to recognize the important provisions of the Canadian Broadcasting Act, and does not offer sufficient protection to Canada’s composers, lyricists, songwriters, and publishers of musical works,” says the release.
SOCAN’s (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) dissatisfaction with the decision is due to several factors, including:
* The Canadian content requirements for satellite radio are inconsistent with existing regulations for commercial radio broadcasters and fail to respect the policy objectives of the Canadian Broadcasting Act
* 90% of programming for two of the satellite services will be done outside of Canada and the existing content regulations will not apply to these channels as they do to other Canadian broadcasters
* Canadians are being denied their right to reasonable levels of Canadian content on these new services, something that SOCAN consistently insists must apply to all broadcasters operating in Canada
“SOCAN will continue to consider carefully the CRTC’s decision for satellite subscription radio services, and will determine shortly what formal action to take, including the possibility of appeals,” concludes the release.
