Canada’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Internet service providers do not have to pay royalties to composers and artists for music downloaded by Web customers.
Companies providing wide access to the Web are merely “intermediaries” who are not bound by Canadian copyright legislation, the court said in a 9-0 ruling. At issue was an effort by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, or SOCAN, to force Internet service providers to pay a tariff. SOCAN also wanted to extend Canadian copyright law beyond the country’s borders and apply it to offshore Web sites that serve Canadians.
This seems like a solid ruling. -KF
Source: Excite
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