Toronto - The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC), a group made up of record labels, music publishers and others in the industry, last week reintroduced a proposal that would add a tax on iPods and other music players that can record media.

Canada already taxes recordable media like blank CDs and MiniDiscs; an effort to include iPods and similar devices was overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal in 2004.

The new proposal calls for a levy of about $4.30 on players with 1GB of memory; $21.40 for 1GB to 10GB players; $42.85 on 10GB-30GB; and $64.28 for devices with more than 30GB of storage.

The CPCC also resurrected a proposal to add a tax of between about $1.70 and $8.57 on memory cards like SD, MMC and Memory Stick.

The CPCC believes it will be successful this time, because it will successfully argue to the Copyright Board of Canada that iPods and MP3 players should be considered "audio recording media" as defined by the Copyright Act.

"It is simply a matter of fairness that the creators of content, the creators of culture actually, should receive some compensation for the large volume of unauthorized and uncontrollable copying onto these media," said CPCC chair Claudette Fortier.

The Copyright Board will consider the CPPC's and other proposals when it sets tariffs for 2008-2009.

Related Links:

http://cpcc.ca/english/pdf/2008-2009PrivateCopyinTariffPressRelease.pdf

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/02/12/canada_ponders_ipod_tax_again