Canadian Recording Industry Faces $6 Billion Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

Michael Geist ^ | 07 December 2009 | Michael Geist

[ShadowAce]

[equalitybeforethelaw]

Big Chet Baker fan. Too bad about the heroin. I guess whoever his estate is should look forward to a big pay day.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

wtf

[ShadowAce]

I posted this for the irony it presents.

[Gil4]

Sounds like one infringement suit I can enthusiastically support.

[Dr. Sivana]

This is the same recording industry that strong armed the Canadian government into putting a tax on blank CDs on the basis that they are being used for piracy.

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:Zy6jyyvYYYwJ:www.digitalhome.ca/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_search%26Itemid%3D99999999%26searchword%3Dercentage%26searchphrase%3Dany%26ordering%3Dnewest%26limit%3D10%26limitstart%3D25+%22+the+tax+on+a+50+spindle+package+of+CD-R+or+CD-RW+discs+is+now+%2413.50%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

“At 29 cents per disc, the tax on a 50 spindle package of CD-R or CD-RW discs is now $13.50 and constitutes a major percentage of the cost of CDs.”

“The levy on CD’s originally began in 1998 and the levy per recordable CD was initially set at 5.2 cents. At the time CD-R discs were often several dollars per disc so the levy represented only a small percentage of the products overall cost.”

[ShadowAce]

And their math is wrong—at 29 cents per disc, the tax on a 50-disc spindle is $14.50, not $13.50

[expat_panama]

Sony, Time-Warner, those guys are becoming really entertaining.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

wat?

[ShadowAce]

Sorry—I can’t read your mind. If you have a question, please ask it.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

lol

[pyx]

This truly is, delicious irony.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

And their math is wrong—at 29 cents per disc, the tax on a 50-disc spindle is $14.50, not $13.50

No, no, it's OK - those are Canadian Dollars, they're worth less!

[Still Thinking]

Chuckle. Hoist by their own petard.

[happinesswithoutpeace]

Hey ShadowAce

lulz

[SubGeniusX]

Payback,

it’s a bitch...

[antiRepublicrat]

Doesn’t that just sound like you’re being ripped off?

A lot of people, mainly geeks, use CDs for data and software storage, especially Linux geeks who tend to have many versions of many distros on CD. A good geek may have hundreds of CDs, not one with music on it. Yet he paid how much to the copyright cartel?

[TChris]

[Dr. Sivana]

Doesn’t that just sound like you’re being ripped off?

A lot of people, mainly geeks, use CDs for data and software storage, especially Linux geeks who tend to have many versions of many distros on CD. A good geek may have hundreds of CDs, not one with music on it. Yet he paid how much to the copyright cartel?

I am not Canadian, so it does not affect me. Besides the uses you mention, there are genuine archival backups of purchased CDs. On top of that, who gets the royalties? Chances are, it will be given to the guys already making the big bucks, when in fact the "pirated" music may well consist of far more obscure material. The wrong people are getting compensated.