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SECTION II: ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES BY STRATEGIC OUTCOME
Strategic Outcome
Strategic Outcome: Fair decision-making to provide proper incentives for the creation and uses of copyrighted works
The Board's strategic outcome is to ensure fair decision-making to provide proper incentives for the creation and uses of copyrighted works. The achievement of this outcome relates to innovation, which is a main source of competitive advantage in all areas of economic endeavour.
The use and re-use of cultural and entertainment content (such as musical works) have become widespread with the advent of new media and on-line services, new playback and editing technologies and new uses in conventional media. These matters manifest themselves in some of society's most complex and contentious issues, including the downloading of musical content over the Internet using file-sharing software, the use of digital decoders to receive scrambled TV signals and the proliferation of duplication technologies, including computers, which have the capability to make digital copies of CDs and DVDs.
The Copyright Board of Canada recognizes the need to ensure an effective and efficient copyright regulatory regime in order to attain the maximum productivity in those sectors that create and use copyrighted works. Further, the performance of the Copyright Board will promote a fair and competitive marketplace as well as reasonable opportunities for Canadian firms to export copyright protected goods and services in the music, for content creation and programming areas, as well as for the downstream broadcasting, publishing and entertainment industries.
Program Activity by Strategic Outcome
| Program Activity: Copyright Tariff Setting and Issuance of Licences | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 Financial Resources ($ thousands) |
2009-10 Human Resources (FTEs) | ||||
| Planned Spending | Total Authorities | Actual Spending | Planned | Actual | Difference |
| 3,201 | 3,201 | 2,731 | 21 | 18 | 3 |
To contribute to this strategic outcome, the Board's unique program activity is Copyright Tariff Setting and Issuance of Licences.
In 2009-2010, the Board held three hearings and issued 14 decisions. What follows is a brief summary of these activities listed according to the legal regime that applies to each category. For further detail, please refer to the Board's 2009-2010 Annual Report which can be found at www.cb-cda.gc.ca.
1. Public Performance of Music
During the fiscal year, the Board held two hearings as follows:
- In May 2009, it considered, as a preliminary issue, whether the Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada (NRCC) - now renamed Re:Sound - is entitled to claim equitable remuneration pursuant to section 19 of the Copyright Act when a published sound recording is part of the soundtrack that accompanies a motion picture that is performed in public (NRCC Tariff 7), and a television program that is communicated to the public by telecommunication (NRCC Tariff 9).
- In December 2009, it jointly examined the tariffs of SOCAN (2006-2010) and NRCC (2006-2011) for the radio of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
- The Board issued the following five decisions, two of which also included reproduction rights:
- Satellite Radio Services Tariff (SOCAN, NRCC and CMRRA-SODRAC Inc. or CSI, for the years 2005 to 2010), on April 8, 2009.
- Background Music Suppliers (SOCAN Tariff 16, for the years 2007-2009), on June 19, 2009.
- NRCC's Tariffs 7 and 9 [Preliminary Issue], on September 16, 2009.
- Application for a joint hearing on SOCAN's and CSI's tariff for online music services, on October 8, 2009.
- Pay Audio Services Tariff (SOCAN and NRCC), on January 15, 2010.
2. Private Copying
In November 2009, the Board held a hearing to examine the issue of whether there exists a sub-kind of CD's, or "professional CDs", that are not ordinarily used to copy music, as well as the Private Copying Tariff proposal for the year 2010.
The Board issued two decisions, as follows:
- On October 19, 2009, further to a request to vary the 1999-2007 certified tariffs filed by Z.E.I. Media Plus Inc.
- On December 16, 2009, setting an interim tariff for the year 2010.
3. Collective Administration (General Regime)
As mentioned in section 1 above, the Board rendered two decisions that included the performance and reproduction rights, namely:
- Satellite Radio Services Tariff (SOCAN, NRCC and CMRRA-SODRAC Inc. or CSI) for the years 2005 to 2010, on April 8, 2009.
- Application for a joint hearing on SOCAN's (2007-2010) and CSI's (2008-2010) tariff for online music services, on October 8, 2009.
In addition, five decisions dealt with arbitration proceedings: four set royalties and the related terms and conditions of interim licences and one ruled on the joint examination of two applications. The Board also certified Access Copyright's tariff for educational institutions for the years 2005-2009 and the Canadian Broadcasters Rights Agency (CBRA) tariff for media monitoring for the years 2009-2010.
4. Unlocatable Copyright Owners
In 2009-2010, 26 applications were filed with the Board for the use of published works for which rights holders could not be found and 10 non-exclusive licences were issued for the use of such works.
5. Agreements Filed with the Board
In 2009-2010, 515 agreements were filed with the Board pursuant to section 70.5 of the Act.
Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, which licenses reproduction rights such as digitization and photocopy, on behalf of writers, publishers and other creators, filed 305 agreements granting educational institutions, language schools, non-profit associations, copy shops and others a licence to photocopy works in its repertoire.
The Société québécoise de gestion collective des droits de reproduction (COPIBEC) filed 127 agreements. COPIBEC is the collective society which authorizes in Quebec the reproduction of works from Quebec, Canadian (through a bilateral agreement with Access Copyright) and foreign rights holders. The agreements filed in 2009-2010 were concluded with various educational institutions, school boards, municipalities and other users.
The Audio-Video Licensing Agency (AVLA) is a copyright collective that administers the copyright in master audio and music video recordings, and licences the exhibition and reproduction of music videos and the reproduction of audio recordings for commercial use. AVLA filed 80 agreements.
Finally, the Canadian Broadcasters Rights Agency (CBRA) filed three agreements it entered into: one with the Province of Alberta and two with the Government of Canada, for media monitoring. CBRA represents various Canadian private broadcasters who create and own radio and television news and current affairs programs and communication signals.
Lessons Learned
The Board has been facing increasing workload pressures leading to unnecessary delays in issuing decisions and creating a backlog in the certification of uncontested tariffs. The Board recognized the need for stability to overcome the challenges it was facing. The first step taken by the Board was to establish its succession plans, which are crucial for the orderly continuation of the Board's activities.
The second step was to more directly deal with the delays and the backlog. After negotiations with the two departments responsible for the copyright legislation, Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage, the Copyright Board obtained additional funding of $430,000 ($215,000 each) starting in 2009-2010. These increased resources led to hiring two new economic analysts as part of the Research and Analysis Branch, allowing the Board to better meet its increasing workload and more adequately fulfill its mandate.
Benefits for Canadians
The Board's decisions and licences set fair and equitable rates and conditions for the use of copyright protected works. Overall, the Board is responsible for tariffs that are estimated to be worth over $300 million annually. In fact, copyright tariffs support several industries which, according to a Conference Board of Canada study (Valuing Culture, Measuring and Understanding Canada's Creative Economy, Conference Board of Canada, August 2008), generated in 2007 an amount representing 7.4% of Canada's GDP when taking into account the direct, indirect and induced contribution. They also contributed 1.1 million jobs to the economy.
Cultural industries are growing at a rapid pace and are at the heart of the knowledge economy. In particular, the Canadian system of collective copyright administration is a healthy and growing part of our economy. Cultural industries' ability to continue to grow depends heavily on well-thought-out decisions respecting copyright. Timeliness in rendering decisions can impact on the growth and innovation in the Canadian economy.
