(Toronto) – The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) today released the results of a survey sent to all five major federal political parties, asking each party for its views on issues related to Canada’s private copying regime.

CPCC Federal Election Survey

These results will be of interest to all copyright owners, including the approximately 97, 000 rights holders who have received private copying levies, in order to inform their decision-making as to how they vote in the October 14th federal general election.

The CPCC received responses from four of the five political parties, with only the Conservative Party failing to participate. The responses submitted by each party can be found below.

“The Canadian Private Copying Collective believes that rights holders deserve fair compensation for the work they create, and that the best way to achieve this is through the preservation and extension of the private copying levy,” said CPCC Chair Annie Morin. “I am pleased to note that the New Democratic Party, the Bloc Québécois and the Liberal Party have all expressed support for fair compensation to rights holders. The commitment of the NDP and the Bloc to extending the private copying levy to digital audio recorders will be especially welcomed by rights holders.”

“The Green Party position, which calls for the private copying levy to be eliminated, would do irreparable damage to the rights holders we represent. Although the Conservative Party failed to respond to our survey, they have been clear, in their most recent policy statement, that they favour the elimination of the private copying levy. Moreover, in the recent legislative changes proposed by the Conservative government to the Copyright Act, fair compensation for rights holders in the new digital environment was not addressed. In the absence of a response by the Conservatives to our survey, there is no reason to believe their position has changed during this election campaign,” concluded Annie Morin.

The CPCC is the non-profit agency charged with collecting and distributing private copying royalties.  Established in 1999, the CPCC is a collective of collectives that represent songwriters, composers, music publishers, recording artists, musicians and record companies.

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Contact:
Alison Thompson
CPCC
tel. (416) 486-6832, ex. 221
email: [email protected]