Canadian Songwriters Propose Collective Licensing

aboivin writes "The Songwriters association of Canada has put forward a proposition for collective licensing of music for personal use. The Right to Equitable Remuneration for Music File Sharing would legalize sharing of a copy of a copyrighted musical work without motive of financial gain, for a monthly fee of $5.00 applied to all Canadian internet connections, which would be distributed to creators and rights holders. From the proposal: 'File sharing is both a revolution in music distribution and a very positive phenomenon. The volunteer efforts of millions of music fans creates a much greater choice of repertoire for consumers while allowing songs — both new and old, well known and obscure — to be heard. All that's needed to fulfill this revolution in distribution is a way for Creators and rights holders to be paid.'"

Re:$5 Canadian??

[eldavojohn]

that's what, like 10 cents here in America. Sweet, sign me up!

It's $4.97 [google.com] in USD.

Remember all that news about the U.S. dollar falling in the global market and all those morons were talking about it? Yeah, well, it actually turns out to have an impact in you making fun of how poor Canada is.

Re:$5 Canadian??

[ZombieRoboNinja]

No problem, we'll just switch to gloating about how you pay a surcharge on books and stuff for no good reason now!

Re:Great, another tax

[PCM2]

First they passed a tax to pay the songwriters. I said nothing, because I don't listen to music.
Then they passed a tax to pay the movie writers. Again I said nothing, because I don't go to the movies.
Then they passed a tax to pay the book industry. I said nothing, because I don't read.
Then they passed a tax to pay the software industry. I said nothing, because I don't own a computer.
Then they passed a tax to pay me ... but there was nobody left with any money. :-(