SOCAN Pleased With Copyright Board's Decision Regarding Royalties For Online Music Use

Posted on October 22, 2007

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is pleased with the Copyright Board's decision to set licence fees for the use of online music services for the years 1996-2006.

Under the new decision, online music service providers will pay SOCAN licence fees of:
Permanent downloads: 3.4% of the amounts paid by the consumer with a minimum fee of 1.7¢ per file in a bundle and 2.3¢ per file in all other cases;
Limited downloads: 6.3% of the amounts paid by subscribers with a minimum fee of 60.9¢ per month, per subscriber, if portable downloads are allowed and 39.9¢ if not;
On-demand stream: 7.6% of the amounts paid by subscribers with a minimum fee of 48.1¢ per month, per subscriber. The Board also determined that the online service industry would benefit from a phase-in discount. A 10% discount will be applied to the rates for the duration of the Tariff (1996 - 2006).

"On behalf of our songwriter and music publisher members, we are extremely encouraged by the Board's decision," says Paul Spurgeon, SOCAN's VP Legal Services & General Counsel. "While the rates established by the Copyright Board are not exactly what we'd hoped for, they provide an excellent foundation for the management of performing rights royalties for online music use as the industry evolves in the future."

Click here to read abot the full SOCAN Tariff 22.A decision.