Private Copying Tariff decision likely to be appealed

The Copyright Board of Canada rendered its long-awaited decision on the private copying tariff today. Expected to be appealed to the courts (possibly by both sides), the decision rejected industry calls for higher levies on blank CDs and tapes but implemented new levies on MP3 and other digital audio memory devices. The private copying levies, designed to compensate artists for private copying by consumers, are paid by manufacturers to collectives representing artists who write and perform musical works. The Board also stated its view that downloading music from the Internet is legal under Canada's private copying regime - another contentious issue that will likely be appealed to court. Details CNET story