Canadian Ringtone Tax?
June 21st, 2005 | by amarfresh |SOCAN – the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada is seeking 10% of Canada’s ringtone revenue. They also seek 15% tariff on ringback tones.
I don’t get it. Artists should want their songs played everywhere. - radio, tv or mobile phone. They don’t charge radio stations for broadcasting their music; why should they charge me when my phone rings playing their song? Users of ringback tones are evangelizing songs, don’t make them pay for it. Ultimately the fans/end-user bear the brunt of this sort of taxation.
This is just another example of the labels looking to squeeze the consumer and market for every penny possible; because they don’t make enough money. The record labels have cash and plenty of lawyers. If they want their cut, they should sue the ringtone providers who are not licensing their content properly; and not look for the Canadian government to provide them with yet another paycheck.
On the flip side, 10-15% is probably a pretty good deal for ringtone providers who aren’t paying any licensing fees. If a tax like this gets levied, will licensing ringtones in Canada be a non-issue? But 10-15% on top of licensing fees sounds like simple and pure greed to me.
If I already own the music, I should be able to use it any way I want. Put it on my pc, my iPod, copy it, tape it, and put it on my mobile device.
[link](http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/06/20/Arts/socan050620.html)
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