CANADA CONSIDERING INTERNET TARIFF FOR JUMPTV, OTHERS
Canada’s Copyright Board is moving forward on Internet Webcasting tariff that may give legitimacy to such sites as iCraveTV and JumpTV (CD Oct 27 p8, Sept 26 p2). Board Secy. Gen. Claude Majeau sent letter to parties calling for interim hearings March 12 on JumpTV’s application for Internet retransmission tariff. Participants have until end of this week to respond to timetable that calls for prehearing conference early in March, he said.
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Majeau said hearings would address JumpTV request for interim tariff for offering over-air signals on Internet. Board will deal with applicability of retransmission regime to over-air signals on Internet and allocation of royalties as separate issues, he said, and legal and jurisdictional Internet issues will be handled separately from tariff structure: “Unless otherwise convinced, the board proposes to reach its decision on the basis of whether JumpTV has an arguable case and the balance of convenience.”
Alternative to interim relief sought by JumpTV would be if copyright collectives didn’t attempt to collect royalties or Webcaster set aside amount in lieu of royalties, Majeau said. However, that wouldn’t prevent rights owners’ from finding JumpTV in violation of copyright because it wasn’t retransmitter, officials said.
Majeau asked participants to consider whether board’s proposed royalties and interim tariff for 2001 would be applicable for over-air signals on Internet, even though tariff formula might not exactly suit JumpTV’s business model. If not, he asked, then are collectives not fulfilling statutory requirement of their right to remuneration or should JumpTV not be required to pay any royalties in 2001 if it is retransmitter under country’s telecom act? Additional considerations, Majeau said, are whether board should handle JumpTV’s request in fashion similar to proposed prosecution of iCraveTV before Ontario Superior Court and, finally, whether board should certify 2 tariffs, one for Internet retransmissions and another for all other retransmission?
JumpTV, which intends to begin streaming TV broadcast signals this year, had asked Canadian Copyright Board to set royalty tariffs specifically for Internet retransmission. CEO Farrel Miller has said in letters to board that proposed 2001 tariff for cable and satellite retransmitters wasn’t applicable to Internet. That contention was met with unanimous disapproval from country’s copyright industry.