No pirates north of the border

TalkBack 2 of 4:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

Media tax

I am in the U.S. and so have to live with our awful IP laws for the few years until the public demands they go away. But I am interested in how the Canadian media tax works.

I release my own songs onto the internet. The media tax is to compensate me because I am losing sales because people are downloading them rather than purchasing them.
- Does that mean I get a portion of the media tax collected?
- Will I be able to collect from the Canadian government because some Canadians downloaded my music, even though I live in the U.S.?
- Do I have to prove that some downloads were to Canadians?
- How much is my portion?
I released 20 songs. Is my portion based on:
- the number of songs?
- the number of albums?
- the number of groups I recorded with? (Should we change our name for each album?)
- the popularity of each song?

I am attempting to understand how this works so I can recommend a similar system in the U.S. To make it fair, it sounds like the government would have to know about every song, which is possible if every song is registered for copyright. Then the government should provide servers to download the songs so they can track what is downloaded and how often. But will they send a bill to France because some of the downloaders' IP Addresses were in France? Can they prove they were not downloaded by visiting Americans? Or will they just block addresses from outside the U.S. (if that is even possible)?

The capitalist system worked well for art. If people like it, the artist makes money. If people do not like it, the artist starves. I do not like the concept of government-subsidized music. I do not like the concept that publishers should receive most of the money from original works in a world where distribution costs nothing. I do not like creators receiving nothing from their efforts. I do not have any answers.

Posted by: solprovider   Posted on: 10/29/03 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Reducing Server Total Cost of Ownership with VMware Virtualization Software VMware VMware virtualization enables customers to reduce their server TCO and ... Download Now
• VMware Infrastructure: A Guide to Bottom-Line Benefits VMware Frustrated by the costs of maintain ever larger data centers?or building ... Download Now
• The Impact of Virtualization Software on Operating Environments VMware Today's use of virtualization technology allows IT professionals to ... Download Now