By Canadian Press

Supreme Court nixes double royalties for streaming, downloading music online

Jul 15, 2022 | 10:18 AM

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada says songwriters are entitled to just one royalty — not two — when their music is made available for streaming or downloaded through an online service.

The top court’s decision today clarifies the meaning of a Canadian copyright law provision dealing with communication of a work to the public online.

The Copyright Board of Canada had ruled the legislative provision meant that making a song or other artistic work available was a separately protected activity for which there must be compensation.

The board said this entitled rights holders to two payments when a work is distributed online: one when it is made available on a platform such as iTunes or Spotify, and a second when it is actually streamed or downloaded by a listener.

The Federal Court of Appeal tossed out the board’s decision.

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In its decision, the Supreme Court says the board’s interpretation undermined the purpose of copyright law, violating the principle of “technological neutrality” by requiring users to pay additional royalties to access works online.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2022.

The Canadian Press