By Darren Eke
A proposal designed to increase royalty payments will benefit musicians, but will have local bar patrons singing the copyright blues.
In an effort to better protect the use of copyright music, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) has recently proposed to increase tariffs on all public performances of music.
Under the plan, additional royalties would be added to an annual fee collected from anyone using recorded music including retail store owners, restaurants and bars.
If approved, these additional tariffs, effective between 2003 and 2009, would have a tremendous impact on local establishments who use musical content under SOCAN’s Tariff No. 18: “Recorded Music for Dancing.”
As it is now, a club that holds 100 people pays a $372.13 annual fee to SOCAN. Under the new changes, however, an establishment would be required to pay extra based on its capacity and number of days music was used.
While some owners have voiced opposition to the new copyright plan, those objecting would likely face lawsuits.
How will these businesses pay the additional tariffs, which could potentially be thousands of dollars? They won’t. Patrons will.
In order to cover the additional increase and still operate in the green, it seems inevitable that consumers would end up paying for the increase in business costs.
If the proposal is accepted, consumers could expect an increase in the dreaded cover charge; for clubs that don’t charge an admission fee perhaps a mandatory coat check would be enforced.
A typical Ottawa winter could get consumers to spend an extra $1.25 upon entry.
Raising drink prices is another sure way to cover extra costs. Those wishing to satisfy their palettes will simply have to dig deeper into their pockets for the same amount of beverage.
Instead, targeting bars to pay an additional copyright tariff appears to be a surefire way to guarantee royalty fees are paid, but how fair is that to patrons who will end up paying the tariff but can’t take home the music at the end of the night?
Artists should be compensated for their work, but SOCAN could gain a lot more royalty fees if they continued to challenge the larger copyright issue: digital music file sharing.
If SOCAN receives the approval it wants from the Copyright Board, customers will likely be joining bar owners in singing the blues.