PROPOSED TARIFF
Filed with the Copyright Board by SOCAN on 2022-10-15 pursuant to subsection 67(1) of the Copyright Act
Proposed Tariff Title: SOCAN Tariff 22.B, Internet - Commercial Radio and Satellite Radio (2024-2026)
For the communication to the public by telecommunication of musical or dramatico-musical works
Effective Period: 2024-01-01 – 2026-12-31
SOCAN TARIFF 22.B, INTERNET – COMMERCIAL RADIO AND SATELLITE RADIO (2024-2026)
Proposed statement of royalties to be collected by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) in compensation for the communication to the public by telecommunication, in Canada, of musical or dramatico-musical works forming part of its repertoire, which, where applicable, includes the making available of such works to the public by telecommunication in a way that allows a member of the public to have access to them from a place and at a time individually chosen by that member of the public.
Application 1. (1) This tariff sets the royalties to be paid for the communication to the public by telecommunication of works in SOCAN’s repertoire, which, where applicable, includes the making available of such works to the public by telecommunication in a way that allows a member of the public to have access to them from a place and at a time individually chosen by that member of the public, in connection with the online communication of audio-only content by commercial radio stations and satellite radio services in the years 2024-2026.
(2) This tariff does not apply to uses covered by other tariffs, including SOCAN Tariffs 1.A (Commercial Radio), 16 (Background Music Suppliers), 22.A (Online Music Services), 22.C (Internet – Other Audio Services), 22.D.1 (Online Audio Visual Services), 22.D.2 (User Generated Content Services), 22.D.3 (Allied Audiovisual Services), 22.E (Internet – Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), 22.G (Internet – Game Services) and 26 (Pay Audio and Ancillary Services).
Definitions
Published by the Copyright Board of Canada, in accordance with section 68.2 of the Copyright Act, on November 18, 2022.
2. In this tariff, “additional information” means, in respect of each musical work contained in a file, the following information:
(a) the musical work’s unique identifier assigned by a station or service; (b) the title of the musical work; (c) the name of each author of the musical work; (d) the name of each performer or group to whom the sound recording contained in the file is credited;
(e) the name of the person who released the sound recording; (f) the International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) assigned to the sound recording; (g) if the sound recording is or has been released in physical format as part of an album, the name, identifier, product catalogue number and the Universal Product Code (UPC) assigned to the album, together with the associated disc and track numbers;
(h) the name of the music publisher associated with the musical work; (i) the International Standard Musical Work Code (ISWC) assigned to the musical work; (j) the Global Release Identifier (GRid) assigned to the musical work and, if applicable, the GRid of the album in which the musical work was released;
(k) the running time of the musical work, in minutes and seconds; and (l) any alternative title used to designate the musical work or sound recording; (« renseignements additionnels »)
“file” means a digital file of an audio work; (« fichier ») “Internet-related revenues” means all revenues generated by Internet-related activities, including membership, subscription and other access fees, amounts paid for advertising, product placement, promotion and sponsorship, net revenues from the sale of goods or services and commissions on third-party transactions, but excluding
(a) revenues that are already included in calculating royalties pursuant to another SOCAN tariff;
Published by the Copyright Board of Canada, in accordance with section 68.2 of the Copyright Act, on November 18, 2022.
(b) revenues generated by an Internet-based activity that is subject to another SOCAN tariff; (c) agency commissions; (d) the fair market value of any advertising production services provided by the station or service; and
(e) network usage and other connectivity access fees; (« recettes d’Internet ») “on-demand stream” means a stream selected by the end-user and received at a place and time individually chosen by that end-user; (« transmission sur demande »)
“play” means the single delivery of a stream; (« écoute ») “quarter” means from January to March, from April to June, from July to September and from October to December; (« trimestre »)
“semi-interactive stream” means a stream delivered by an information filtering system that allows an end-user to influence the content of the streams, the timing of the transmission of the streams, or both; (« transmission semi-interactive »)
“simulcast” means the simultaneous, unaltered, real-time streaming of a satellite radio signal via the Internet or other similar digital network; (« diffusion simultanée »)
“stream” means a file that is intended to be copied onto a local storage medium or device only to the extent required to allow listening to the file at substantially the same time as when the file is received; (« transmission »)
“subscriber” means an end-user with whom the station or service or its authorized distributor has entered into a contract for service other than on a transactional per-stream basis, whether for a fee, for other consideration or free of charge, including pursuant to a free subscription; (« abonné »)
“year” means a calendar year. (« année ») Royalties Commercial Radio Stations 3. (1) The royalties payable for the communication of audio works by means of Internet transmissions or similar transmission facilities by a broadcaster that is subject to Tariff 1.A (Commercial Radio) are 10.3 per cent of the broadcaster’s Internet-related revenues, subject to a minimum fee, which shall be the lesser of 60.8¢ per subscriber per month and 0.13¢ per stream requiring a SOCAN licence. For the avoidance of doubt, the foregoing applies to a broadcaster
Published by the Copyright Board of Canada, in accordance with section 68.2 of the Copyright Act, on November 18, 2022.
that offers on-demand streams and/or semi-interactive streams. Satellite Radio Services (2) The royalties payable for the communication of audio works by means of Internet transmissions or similar transmission facilities by a satellite radio service that is subject to Tariff 25 (Satellite Radio Services) are as follows:
(a) 10.3 per cent of the service’s Internet-related revenues if the service offers on-demand streams and/or semi-interactive streams, subject to a minimum fee, which shall be the lesser of 60.8¢ per subscriber per month and 0.13¢ per stream requiring a SOCAN licence; and
(b) 5 per cent of the service’s Internet-related revenues if the service only offers simulcasts. Reporting Requirements Service Identification 4. (1) No later than the earlier of 20 days after the end of the first month during which a station or service communicates a file requiring a SOCAN licence and the day before the station or service first makes such a file available to the public, the station or service shall provide to SOCAN the following information:
(a) the name of the person who operates the station or service, including (i) if a corporation, its name and a mention of its jurisdiction of incorporation, (ii) if a sole proprietorship, the name of the proprietor, (iii) if a partnership, the names of each partner, and (iv) in any event, the names of the principal officers or operators of the station or service or any other service,
together with any other trade name under which the station or service carries on business; (b) the address of its principal place of business; (c) the name, address and email of the persons to be contacted for the purposes of notice, for the exchange of data and for the purposes of invoicing and payment of royalties;
(d) the name and address of any authorized distributor; and (e) the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of each website and the name of each application or
Published by the Copyright Board of Canada, in accordance with section 68.2 of the Copyright Act, on November 18, 2022.
platform at or through which the streams or simulcasts are or will be offered, as applicable. Sales and Music Use Reporting (2) No later than 20 days after the end of each month, any station or service that is required to pay royalties pursuant to this tariff shall provide to SOCAN a report setting out, for that month, the following information:
(a) the station’s or service’s Internet-related revenues; (b) in relation to each file that was delivered: (i) the number of plays of each file; (ii) the total number of plays of all files; and (iii) the additional information. (3) If the station or service offers subscriptions in connection with its provision of streams or simulcasts, as applicable, the station or service shall provide the following information:
(a) the number of subscribers at the end of the month and the total amounts paid by them during that month; and
(b) the number of subscribers provided with free trial subscriptions and the total number of plays of all files by such subscribers as streams.
(4) If the station or service claims that a SOCAN licence is not required for a file, the station or service shall provide information that establishes why the licence is not required.
Files Made Available 5. Upon request, a station or service shall provide to SOCAN the additional information for all files that were made available to members of the public for on-demand streaming at any time during the year, regardless of whether the file was transmitted to any end-user. SOCAN shall not make such a request more frequently than twice per year.
Payment of Royalties and Interest on Late Payments 6. (1) Royalties shall be due no later than 20 days after the end of each month. (2) All amounts payable under this tariff are exclusive of any federal, provincial or other governmental taxes or levies of any kind.
Published by the Copyright Board of Canada, in accordance with section 68.2 of the Copyright Act, on November 18, 2022.
(3) All amounts required to be reported or paid under this tariff shall be reported or paid in Canadian dollars.
(4) Any amount not received by the due date shall bear interest from that date until the date the amount is received. Interest shall be calculated daily, at a rate equal to one per cent above the Bank Rate effective on the last day of the previous month (as published by the Bank of Canada). Interest shall not compound.
Adjustments 7. Adjustments to any information provided pursuant to section 3 or 4 shall be provided with the next report dealing with such information.
8. Adjustments in the amount of royalties owed, including excess payments, as a result of the discovery of an error or otherwise, shall be made on the date the next royalty payment is due.
Records and Audits 9. (1) A station or service shall keep and preserve, for a period of six years after the end of the month to which they relate, records from which the information set out in sections 3 and 4 can be readily ascertained.
(2) SOCAN may audit these records at any time during the period set out in subsection (1) on reasonable notice and during normal business hours.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), if an audit discloses that royalties due have been understated in any quarter by more than 10 per cent, the station or service shall pay the reasonable costs of the audit within 30 days of the demand for such payment.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), any amount owing as a result of an error or omission on the part of SOCAN shall not be taken into account.
Confidentiality 10. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), SOCAN, the station or service and its authorized distributors shall treat in confidence information received pursuant to this tariff, unless the disclosing party consents in writing to the information being treated otherwise.
(2) Information referred to in subsection (1) may be shared (a) between the station or service and its authorized distributors in Canada; (b) with the Copyright Board; Published by the Copyright Board of Canada, in accordance with section 68.2 of the Copyright Act, on November 18, 2022.
(c) in connection with proceedings before the Copyright Board, once the disclosing party has had a reasonable opportunity to request a confidentiality order;
(d) with any person who knows or is presumed to know the information; (e) to the extent required to effect the distribution of royalties; (f) with SOCAN’s agents and service providers to the extent required by the service providers for the service they are contracted to provide; and
(g) if required by law. (3) Subsection (1) does not apply to information that must be provided pursuant to the Copyright Act, to information that is publicly available, to aggregated information, or to information obtained from someone other than the station or service or its authorized distributors and who is not under an apparent duty of confidentiality with respect to the supplied information.
Addresses for Notices 11. (1) Anything addressed to SOCAN shall be sent to 41 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, Ontario M3B 2S6, email: licence@socan.com, or to any other address or email address of which a station or service has been notified in writing.
(2) Anything that SOCAN sends to a station or service shall be sent to the last address or email address of which SOCAN has been notified in writing.
Delivery of Notices 12. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a notice may be delivered by hand, by postage-paid mail, by email or by File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
(2) Information provided pursuant to sections 4 and 5 shall be delivered electronically, by way of delimited text file or in any other format agreed upon by SOCAN and the station or service.
(3) A notice or payment mailed in Canada shall be presumed to have been received four business days after the day it was mailed.
(4) A notice sent by email or by FTP shall be presumed to have been received the day it is transmitted.
Published by the Copyright Board of Canada, in accordance with section 68.2 of the Copyright Act, on November 18, 2022.