broadcasters Archives

Technological neutrality and copyright: Supreme Court grants leave to clarify scope in CBC v SODRAC

The Supreme Court granted leave to appeal today in another copyright case, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation / Société Radio-Canada v. SODRAC 2003 Inc. The appeal is from the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal which ruled that broadcasters must pay royalties for ephemeral recordings in accordance with the 1990 decision of the Supreme Court in Bishop v. Stevens.

In the Court of Appeal, CBC argued that Bishop v Stevens was no longer good law, having been overruled by a series of decisions of the Court which had, in various circumstances, made references to the principle of technological neutrality in construing the Copyright Act.…

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When do broadcasters reproduce works ? The Copyright Board clarifies the law in the Commercial Radio Tariff case

The Copyright Board released its reasons for decision in the Commercial Radio Tariff proceedings last week. The case involved many different parties and issues and resulted in the certification of a tariff that covers a gamut of music uses by broadcasters in the course of their operations.

In the course of giving reasons for its decision, the Board made a number of important statements about what constitutes a reproduction for the purposes of the Copyright Act. In particular, the Board canvassed the activities of broadcasters and examined which activities resulted in reproductions of musical works (and sound recordings) in the course of their broadcasting operations.…

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