Staying in Canada, and Canadian collecting society Canadian Private Copying Collective has said it may appeal a court ruling made last week that blocked the introduction of the so called iPod tax in the country - ie to extend the copyright levy that exists in Canada on the sale of blank cassettes and CDRs to digital music players.
As previously reported, such a copyright levy does not exist in the UK, where the private copying of recordings that the levy legitimises is technically speaking illegal. Moves are afoot to change UK copyright law so that making personal copies of music is no longer illegal (mainly because everyone makes such copies anyway), leading to some who favour the levy system to suggest it should be introduced here at the same time. But copyright levies are even more controversial than ever, because cassette and CDR sales are in decline, leading to suggestions, as in Canada, that the levy should be added to digital music players as well. But the iPod tax has many critics, not least the influential electronics manufacturers and retailers who make and sell the digital music players, who argue it isn't as certain as with CDRs and cassettes that an MP3 player will be used for making personal private copies of CDs.
The CPCC has been a strong advocate of an iPod tax in Canada, and last July persuaded the Canadian Copyright Board that it should be introduced. But the matter went to the Court Of Appeal at the bequest of key retailers, and that court ruled last week that the Copyright Board had "erred in law when it concluded that it has the legal authority to certify the tariff".
Responding to that ruling, CPCC spokesman David Basskin told reporters: "The CPCC sought a levy on iPods and other MP3 players because they are used extensively for the purpose of copying recorded music and because the vast majority of the copying is not authorized. In the absence of a levy, no one who is involved in the creation of the music receives any remuneration when their music is copied without their approval. The CPCC is understandably disappointed with the Federal Court of Appeal's decision and will be considering its options".
It should be noted that the Canadian Recording Industry Association does not back the levy proposals.