A group known as the Canadian Private Copying Collective is trying to get a law passed in Canada which would add a small tax to all MP3 and digital music players sold. Yes, that means in addition to sales tax and anything else associated with the purchase. The money collected would then be distributed to artists. In Canada, all media that can be written with audio (blank tapes, CD-Rs, etc) has an extra little tax on it. That money is collected by the CPCC and then distributed. The argument for this new tax, both for writable media and for MP3 players, is that people should have to pay a fee when they copy music “for private enjoyment.”
These additional fees associated with things which can be used for music playback are flawed to a point that is sort of baffling. If you go to the store to buy CD-Rs, no one has any right to assume that you’re doing so to copy music. Just because a tool can be used for something, even if that something is very common, does not mean that you specifically will use that tool that way. Unfortunately, the Canadian system is currently set up such that to use a blank tape, you must give extra money to musicians.
The reason why this is so absurd is because under most ever code of law in the world where applicable, copies of legally purchased music “for private enjoyment” falls under fair use. If I burn a copy of a CD I bought on iTunes so I can listen to it in my car, I do not have to pay an additional fee for this luxury. This proposal to tax MP3 players, however, spits in the face of this very concept.
