Ottawa set to burn your CD, MP3 budget

[TheButcher]

This has also been floated here in Australia.

Ottawa set to burn your CD, MP3 budget

By DAVID GAMBLE
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA -- Rockin' on with your MP3 or burning music CDs on your computer will cost a lot more if the federal government has its way.

Newly proposed royalty charges will add a whopping $400 to the cost of a $600 MP3 player and at least a $1.23 charge to the cost of each blank CD or MiniDisc.

Old-fashioned cassette tapes will also face an additional 40c charge.

All the money will go to artists as royalties designed to compensate for home recording and dubbing of CDs.

Canadians have until May 8 to file written objections to the Copyright Board. It's proposed that the charges would take effect Jan. 1, 2003.

Tory-Democratic Representative MP Grant McNally said the charges are nothing but a tax grab, calling them a "Sheila stealth tax" and accusing the government of trying to slip the charges into law with little notice.

The Copyright Board issued a notice on Saturday.

Heritage Minister Sheila Copps defended the proposed new charges as giving songwriters and musicians their due.

"Unlike the Conservative Party that claims to support to support intellectual property rights, we actually support copyright," Copps said.

[Dr AlfAndrews]

This would mean that if I record my own music at home, as many musicians do these days, and I want to make copies of my own work to give to friends, I would have to pay this extra charge.

That's outrageous.

The fact is that modern technology has made it impossible to prevent the pirating of music. As a result, musicianship is doomed as a money-making career option.

But it has always been a career for the elite few. So, for most of us it was never a realistic option anyway.

This idea of putting a surcharge on the price of blank CDs will do very little to help musicians by the time it is divided out among all the musicians who make recordings. And it will discriminate severely against musicians who record their own music for the love of it.

[TheButcher]

DrAlf they outta charge woeful people like yourself double for the crap you churn out.

[Dr AlfAndrews]

Originally posted by TheButcher
DrAlf they outta charge woeful people like yourself double for the crap you churn out.

Now that's not very nice ... Just when I was almost on the verge of admitting that 40ALEXANDER isn't such a bad band after all. In fact I was almost going to ask you if you'd like some airplay.

Ah, well ... you've blown it now, Butch. You should never go around insulting influential media personalities if you wanna be a rock 'n' roll star.

[TheButcher]

What the hell is a 40 Alexander?

and well done DrAlf youve certainly got a face for public radio..HAHAHA its almost a shame no one listens! lol

[Dr AlfAndrews]

Originally posted by TheButcher
... well done DrAlf ...

Well done, you reckon?

I was going to commend you on your fine effort in turning your OWN topic into a sledging match.

Well done.

[Docker_Brat]

Apparantley 40 Alexander broke up and re-formed as Square One.

WTF is a 40 Alexander anyway?

[Dr AlfAndrews]

Originally posted by Docker_Brat
Apparantley 40 Alexander broke up and re-formed as Square One.

WTF is a 40 Alexander anyway?

That's what I'd like to know, too.

Well, Butch ... you heard The Brat ...

WTF is a 40 Alexander?

[TheButcher]

Dr ALF wrote: I was going to commend you on your fine effort in turning your OWN topic into a sledging match.

I'll take that as another compliment

and I know you are a Square One Alf but still wanting to get an explanation on 40 Alexander? As Pauline would say "Please explain?"