January 17, 2023 By Email – registry-greffe@cb-cda.gc.ca
Jay Kerr-Wilson Direct +1 613 696 6884 jkerrwilson@fasken.com
Registry Copyright Board of Canada 56 Sparks St, Suite 800 Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C9
To whom it may concern, Re: Notice of Grounds for Objection- SOCAN Tariff 22.D.1.R (Reproduction of Musical Works Embedded In Audiovisual Works For Transmission By A Service, 2024-2026)
This is the Notice of Grounds for Objection of Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Canada Inc., Shaw Communications Inc., Cogeco Communications Inc., Québecor Média Inc., TELUS Communications Company, the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance, and Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly known as Facebook, Inc.) (“the Service Providers”) to the Statement of Proposed Royalties to be Collected by SOCAN for the Reproduction of Musical Works for 2024-2026 (the “Statement of Proposed Royalties”) filed by SOCAN and published on the Copyright Board website on November 18, 2022 pursuant to the provisions of section 68.2 of the Copyright Act.
The Service Providers respectfully reserve the right to rely upon objections raised by other parties to the proceedings, mutatis mutandis. The Service Providers also reserve their right to raise additional substantive points of objection throughout the proceedings related to the Statement of Proposed Royalties.
These objections are filed in accordance with the Copyright Act and the Practice Notice on the Filing of Grounds for Objection.
Inter alia and without limiting their general objection, and without admitting that they are liable for the payment of royalties pursuant to the proposed tariff, the Service Providers object to the following:
Grounds for Objecting to Royalty Rates in the Proposed Tariff The Services Providers object to the rates set out in section 4. This document has not been made nor issued by the Copyright Board. It has not been translated and is only available in the language in which it was filed with the Board.
Le présent document n’émane pas de la Commission du droit d’auteur. Il n’a pas été traduit et il est disponible uniquement dans la langue dans laquelle il a été déposé auprès de la Commission.
-2-
Said proposed fees do not reflect the fair, reasonable and appropriate value of reproduction of works in SOCAN’s repertoire. Said proposed fees do not reasonably reflect either the amount or the type of the impact of music use by a licensee.
The Service Providers also object to the fact that the Statement of Proposed Royalties seeks to include in the rate base revenues which are in no way connected to the use or value of SOCAN’s repertoire.
Grounds for Objecting to Terms and Conditions in the Proposed Tariff The Service Providers object to the reporting and auditing provisions contained in the Statement of Proposed Royalties at sections 5 to 10. Said provisions are intrusive, require the disclosure of potentially sensitive confidential information, require the disclosure of information that is not necessarily available to licensees, and place a disproportionate burden on licensees.
Additional Grounds for Objecting to the Proposed Tariff The Service Providers object to the fact that the Statement of Proposed Royalties does not adequately reflect the risk and investment by users in new technology.
Yours truly, FASKEN MARTINEAU DuMOULIN LLP
Jay Kerr-Wilson