CPCC applies for music tax on memory cards

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: James Knott <james.knott-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org>

| I do use memory cards to hold music, but it's music I've already paid for when
| I bought CDs.

There's a problem in the system.  The copyright act allows "private
copying" from sources that the copier doesn't own.  The levy
(currently on blank CDs and audio tape) is meant to compensate/balance
this.

My internal "fairness" meter says that private copying should be
limited to sources that the copier owns (eg. purchased MP3s, CDs,
etc.).  Then there would be no need for the levy.  Enforcing this is
not easy.  (DRM systems go part way, but I hate them because of the
damage they inflict.)

The levy made some kind of sense when one album consumed one tape or
CD.  Now, with compression, the minutes of music copied onto a medium
can be astronomical (eg. 100 MP3s easily fit on a CD).  Scaling the
levy up accordingly would be unworkable.  Extending it to SD cards
would be even more unreasonable.

I am annoyed because I pay the levy on blank CDs even though I almost
never use them for private copying of music.  But that is part of the
rough justice of the system.

BTW, I find the way music is treated differently from other kinds of
works is interesting and troubling.
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists