Canadians still pay a 24 cent fee (used to be higher) on each CD-R sold (not per spindle) because of a private copying levy the CRIA lobbied for. In theory the levy is paid out to musicians as compensation for the assumed music piracy that every CD-R will inevitably be used for, and the CRIA gets to pick who those musicians are. This fee doesn't apply to DVD-Rs, ironically making them a much cheaper alternative. Fortunately their multiple attempts at getting a fee for MP3 players didn't go through.
As you note, the levy is for private copying. However, thanks to the most recent copyright legislation which was pushed through by our current government, Canadians are now paying that levy for something that they can no longer legally do if the work they wanted to copy utilized any kind of technological protection measure which might prevent it from simply being copied too casually.... since such measures are becoming increasingly prevalent as content increasingly moves towards an all-digital format, the levy will end up being for something that Canadians are no longer practically able to legally do, since the laws regarding TPMs do not contain any exception for private copying (even though the government that proposed the bill before it became law was repeatedly asked to insert such an exception into the bill by its opponents).
Private Copying Levy (Score:0)
Canadians still pay a 24 cent fee (used to be higher) on each CD-R sold (not per spindle) because of a private copying levy the CRIA lobbied for. In theory the levy is paid out to musicians as compensation for the assumed music piracy that every CD-R will inevitably be used for, and the CRIA gets to pick who those musicians are. This fee doesn't apply to DVD-Rs, ironically making them a much cheaper alternative. Fortunately their multiple attempts at getting a fee for MP3 players didn't go through.
Re:Private Copying Levy (Score:2)