VZCZCXRO0270
PP RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0071 0112118
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 112118Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7139
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN AND EEB/TPP/MTA/IPC 
STATE PASS USTR FOR SULLIVAN, MELLE, AND GARDE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR CA
SUBJECT: CANADIAN COURT STRIKES DOWN IPOD LEVY 
 
¶1. (U) Federal Court of Appeals of Canada ruled on January 11 
that the Copyright Board of Canada does not have the 
authority to place a copyright levy on iPods and other 
digital music players.  It is possible that the board will 
appeal this decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.  The 
Copyright Board had planned to charge a levy of up to $75CAD 
on digital music players sold in Canada.  This levy, similar 
to ones on blank CDs, would "compensate" Canadian musicians 
(and only Canadian musicians) for music sales allegedly lost 
to piracy. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Most retailers and consumers are pleased by the 
decision, and it may inspire renewed calls for the Government 
to make format shifting (e.g., moving music from a legally 
owned CD to an iPod) clearly legal.  Format shifting is 
currently a legal gray area in Canada.  Although the Canadian 
music industry is concerned about piracy, many industry 
insiders, including the Canadian Recording Industry 
Association (CRIA), believe that a levy on digital music 
players is a poor solution.  Because a levy forces consumers 
to pay compensation for downloaded music, a legal argument 
might be made that the levy legalizes unlimited file sharing. 
 This legal theory has yet to be tested in a Canadian court. 
 
Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada 
 
WILKINS