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The Canadian Press reported on last Friday that The Copyright Board of Canada has authorized new tariffs for playing copyrighted music at karaoke bars, conventions, ice shows, fairs and even weddings. The tariffs will be collected by Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (known as SOCAN) which already collects royalties for songwriters and by a non-profit called Re:Sound (formerly known as Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada) which will collect royalties for record labels and performers who contributed to the music.

The intention behind the tariffs is to share some of the revenue made by venues hosting the events with those who created the music. The fee varies depending on event type and number of attendees. Karaoke bars will pay between $86.06 and $124 annually depending on how many days per week they allow amateur singers to go up on stage For parades, each float that blasts recorded music will pay $4.39, and is subjected to a minimum fee of $32.55 per day. If coming to weddings, the fees range between $9.25 to $39.33 per day depending on how many people are attending. If the number is less than 100 people, then the cost would be $9.25 per day and if it’s 500 or more than 500 people, then the cost would be $39.33 per day.charged the highest fee. And if you have a plan to dance with the music, then it’s going to cost you a lot. You have to pay double for that.

What makes this case terrible is that the government become involved in it. The government should not be worrying about how people are using music at their weddings, nor should they be charging newlyweds as there is already an organization out there (SOCAN) that is taking care of the artists’ copyrights and music usage by live events.

Time to see, will the new tariffs affect the ceremonies? What do you think about it? Do you think, it is good that the government got involved in it? You can write down your comments below in the box.

Source : CBC

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