(Toronto) On May 12, 2005 the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) executed a writ of seizure and an Anton Piller order of the Superior Court of the Province of Québec against a levy evader. This allowed the CPCC to seize blank CD-Rs, audio cassettes, and other evidence in the possession of an importer that knowingly and willfully evaded its legal obligation to pay private copying levies under Canada’s Copyright Act.  The order carried out against 9075-9077 Québec Inc., which also does business under the names Aqua Internationale, Sarnas, Disque Compact Aquamedia, Les Batteries Aquacell and Les Batteries Beecell, resulted in the seizure of evidentiary documents and in excess of 85,000 blank CD-R media.

“The CPCC is committed to enforcing the Private Copying Tariff and will not tolerate companies that knowingly evade their legal responsibilities,” said Anna Bucci, CPCC’s Executive Director. “Not only are rights holders entitled to have their right to remuneration enforced, but lawful manufacturers and importers of blank media are entitled to a fair marketplace. Companies that evade the levy damage not only the economic rights of creators, but also of legitimate Canadian businesses who abide by their legal obligations.”

The order against 9075-9077 Québec Inc. is the latest in a series of successful enforcement efforts by CPCC in the courts. Previous rulings against evaders have awarded CPCC a similar seizure order and a substantial monetary judgment.

The private copying levy provides significant remuneration to songwriters, music publishers, recording artists and musicians, and record companies for the use of their work. The levy is derived from the private copying provisions of the Copyright Act implemented in 1998 in recognition of the fact that Canadians copy without authorization hundreds of millions of tracks of recorded music for their own private use.

The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) is a non-profit agency charged with collecting and distributing private copying royalties. Established in 1999, CPCC is a collective of collectives that represent music authors, music publishers, recording artists, musicians and record companies.

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For more information contact:
Alison Thompson
CPCC
tel. (416) 486-6832, ex. 221
email: [email protected]