The Copyright Board of Canada has, for the first time, decided to charge fees to anyone who uses recorded music as part of a public event. That means anyone who plans on using tunes to get the party started will need to dig a little deeper before hitting play on the iPod.
What that means is that, like concerts, festivals, bars and restaurants who play music, if you are going to rely on your iPod at your graduation party or wedding, you may have to pay certain fees to collectives like SOCAN and Re:sound.
This isn’t big news in a lot of ways – most DJs, food and beverage establishments and other venues playing music (whether live or recorded) have had to kick up fees to the collectives. Given the widespread use of pirated music, this is one of the only ways some artists can recover lost revenues as a result of illegal music downloads.
The difference now is “The new rules include any event in which music is played – weddings, ice shows, street parties, circuses, parades and karaoke bars are all named in the official notice from the country’s copyright board.
- Fees for receptions, conventions, conventions, assemblies and fashion shows are determined by attendance. Less than 100 people costs, $9.25 per event. More than 500 is $39.33. Party animals be warned: if there’s dancing, the fee doubles.
- Any business that offers karaoke must pay $86 for fewer than three days a week, or $124 for the entire week.
- Festivals, exhibitions and fairs will pay up to $42 a day if there are fewer than 100,000 attendees. Any more than that, and the cost rises incrementally per 100,000.
- Circuses, ice shows, fireworks displays and light shows are on the hook for at least $61 a day, or .8 per cent of all ticket sales.
- Parades will want to count their floats carefully – each one that plays recorded music will cost oganizers $4, with a minimum fee of $32.55 per day.
- Anyone playing music at an event on a street or in a park must kick out $16 a day, up to $111 every three months.
Do, how do you avoid those costs at your wedding? I guess you could try no dancing. Or, just sing songs together. Might not be much fun, but you’ll save a few bucks.
*with content from the Globe and Mail
** the contents of this blog post aren’t to be taken as legal advice.