[hugh]

Thanks to a December 5th ruling by the Copyright Board of Canada, effective January 1st of this year, the tax on blank compact discs (CD's) in Canada rose 40% from 21 cents per disc to 29 cents per disc.

The tax was to be retroactive to January 1st, 2008, however, on December 18th, the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) indicated its intention not to collect any increases in the rates retroactively.

 

[timlocke]

Personally I'd like to just send $20 to Leonard Cohen and then not pay the Levy. I think I have copied music to about 10 CDs in my entire life but I have backed up software and data to many, many.

It would be acceptable I suppose if they gave ALL of the money minus maybe ONE employee salary to Canadian artists on the 31st December each year. I suspect tho' that they have a large gang of people all pigging at the trough, none of whom are creative artists.

oh well.

 

[magnet]

With divx and USB enabled devices, many will only need CDs/ DVDs to back-up data.

This TAX is not solving anything.

 

[Toolatecrew]

People need to start downloading more shared music to get their money's worth then!

(Note Downloading is NOT illegal..sharing content for people to download IS in Canada yeah its stupid but just wanted to put that outthere before someone accuses me of advocating priracy. We are all paying to be allowed to download its those scumbags out there that let you download from them that are the criminals)

 

[dfletcher]

I just don't know what people are so concerned about........

The article refers to the "tax" on a 50 pack of blank CD's being raised so that it is now $13.

I can buy a 50 pack of CD r's at any no-name computer store for like $8.

WTF. stop complaining about the price and buy a spindle or 6, a life-time supply.

 

[Sniper18]

I think if I were to go buy a spindle of CD's I would feel ripped off if I didn't burn downloaded music to it with these levy's in place.

 

[Michael DeAbreu]

Part of the court's reasoning was that Canadians had already paid for the downloaded music through this levy. So I say double, heck triple the levy if it helps legalize downloading.

 

[talljak]

I do not make music cds, but I do make countless photo cds. Photos I took with my own gear. Glad I bought some last year, but 300 wont even last me the year. I will have to pass the price increase on.

 

[Crawler]

I use DVD-Rs for file archiving (4.7 GB vs. 700 MB, and a lower price for DVD-R's - that's a no-brainer), and I can't remember the last time I actually burned a CD for music - my MP3 player or a USB memory stick or some other means to play digital audio files can be connected into most audio systems. Copyright Board of Canada gets nothing from me.

Worst case scenario if I really need CD-Rs, I can just grab a spindle for cheap when I go to the U.S., or get a spindle at some no-name Asian run computer store located in the usual haunts around Greater Toronto, where I doubt the Copyright Board is able to collect from.

 

[dfletcher]

CRAWLER

I couldn't agree more, they would tax the air we breathe if they could.

 

[cooper83]

I couldn't agree more, they would tax the air we breathe if they could.

Already in place with BC's Carbon Tax

I bought my first ever spindle of CD-R's just after Boxing Day...good timing!

 

[99semaj]

It's more of a separate welfare system than a tax.

 

[BGY11]

Anyone remember back when the "CD-R levy" was first announced? Everyone was panicking and stocking up on CD-Rs like there was no tomorrow.

I haven't seen any impact of the CD-R tax - as stated in this thread, I've been able to go to a local computer store and pick up blank discs for under $10 for 50 discs.

 

[thegiffer]

1. the tax itself is odious because the proceeds are so targeted - e.g. another condo in Maui for Bryan Adams. This isn't going to hospitals or parks....

2. a 'board' shouldn't have a tax like power like this one does - too removed from legislative control although I believe Cabinet can refuse to approve increases in this case.

3. however, I agree with the comments about not much impact. I haven't noticed any tax bite where I buy blanks for years. In fact, price per disc seems to have fallen dramatically in the last 2-3 years. I'm gradually moving away from blanks to backup using multiple external drives.

4. I wonder what board will be given the ball to implement the inevitable Canadian Heritage Internet Levy (CHIL) that the ISPs will pass on to us?

 

[hugh]

I've been able to go to a local computer store and pick up blank discs for under $10 for 50 discs.

LIkely because the manufacturer is not paying the tax. If you look at brand name CD-r's sold at national stores, the price is significantly higher because they are paying the levy.

from the CPCC site

Tips

Creating a marketplace in which evaders are identified and called to account is critical not just to those for whose benefit royalties are collected but also to the many law-abiding businesses that do remit royalties to CPCC. CPCC's Tips program was created to make it as easy as possible to report suspect pricing and royalty evaders. The Tips program is an important source of enforcement leads for CPCC.

If you are aware of any manufacturer or importer you believe should be remitting royalties to CPCC but is not, you are encouraged to get in touch. Call us toll-free at 1-800-892-7235, and ask to speak to a member of CPCC's enforcement unit. Alternatively, send an e-mail to [email protected] or fax us a note through CPCC's dedicated enforcement fax line 416-486-5546. Errors and incomplete information can delay, and even prevent, successful enforcement. Please ensure that the information you provide is accurate and as detailed as possible.

 

[dogbolter]

Might as well jack up the tax on those C-90 Cassette tapes too! Way to tax a dieing technology out of existence!

 

[PhotoJim]

You can get spindles of 50 Riteks (decent-quality discs) for $11-12. They're good for everyday use.

If you're using them to archive stuff, I recommend the more costly Taiyo Yudens. They're among the best on the market.

I happen to agree that the levy is pretty stupid, especially since people use iPods and other MP3 players for music these days far more often than they use CDs. (My wife's new Honda Fit even lets you plug in a flash drive and play directly off it - quite cool.)

I still do my photography on film (far less work to archive ) but if I shot digitally I'd be shooting in raw format without compression anyway, and that would pretty much force me to use DVD+R.

 

[Gord Lacey]

Hahaha, yeah, like someone is going to report a store to the CPCC for not collecting the levy.

Have they ever paid out some of the money collected? I remember looking into it a couple of years ago and there were reports the CPCC hadn't paid a CENT to Canadian recording artists.

Gord

 

[polaris]

I will continue to freely download music and burn to disc if this tax is in place. I do buy CDR's to use in my car for music. This tax justifies downloading, and IMO sharing also but that later issue is cloudy as ever! We are paying for it after all in a round about way. I wonder if there is any legal opinion on this issue?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081210.wgtlevy1210/BNStory/Technology/home

“The CD copy that has been made by the end user is a legal copy,” regardless of whether it contains illegally downloaded music, said Claude Majeau, secretary general of the copyright board.

“The [legality] question of downloading and sharing of music files – that's beyond our jurisdiction.”