MicroSD Cards Will Not See Canadian Copyright Levies
The Ministry of Industry announced today that the Harper Government will not charge levies on microSD memory cards, thus setting out regulations exempting microSD cards from current regulatory copyright levies.
"Our government is committed to building a strong and vibrant Canadian digital economy, the cornerstone of which must be the widespread adoption of cutting-edge digital technologies," said Minister Paradis. "Placing a new fee on devices with removable memory cards, such as BlackBerrys and smart phones, would increase costs for Canadian families and impact the adoption of the latest technologies."
Removable microSD cards are regularly used to store data for smartphones and regulations exempting the technology from the levy will be introduced this fall.
"Our government worked hard to strike the right balance in the Copyright Modernization Act, which ensures world-leading consumer and user rights while giving creators the tools to protect their work and grow their businesses," added Minister Paradis. "An additional fee on removable memory cards is not only unwarranted but unfair to Canadian consumers."
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Requesting microSD’s to fall under the copyright levy was Canadian Private Copying Collective. An umbrella organization that respresents represent songwriters, composers, music publishers, recording artists, musicians and record companies, the CPCC had proposed microSD cards be charged a copyright levy depending on size, suggestign rates from 50 cents to $3.
“A copy is a copy, regardless of whether it was made on a CD-R or a memory card. That copy has value, and a levy on the blank media used to make it ensures that the artists, songwriters and other rights holders receive the compensation to which they are entitled. It’s a matter of fairness,” said Annie Morin, Chair of the CPCC when proposing the levy.
