andyman210 used our news submit to tell us that the
Canadian Supreme Court has ruled 9-0, that ISPs do not have to pay
royalties to composers and artists for music downloaded by web customers.
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada or SOCAN,
had put forth an effort intended to force Internet service providers to pay a
tariff or royalty for copyrighted works downloaded on their networks. The logic
behind this action, which differs from the one taken by the RIAA, is that they
felt it would be easier to target an ISP as a distributor rather than trying to
track down individuals.
hardware and technology, they are only "intermediaries" who are not responsible for what people download and are not bound by federal copyright legislation. |
The Canadian Association of Internet Providers
fought the action, their arguement was, it should be the sites that
offer music downloads that pay royalties to artists, not companies that provide
the access. It seems the high court agreed.
Source: CBC News
