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CMRRA to Protect The Rights Of Songwriters

The Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA), which has taken a strong stand in support of the entry of online music services into Canada, recently announced that it is now setting its sights on protecting the rights of songwriters. In conjunction with the Quebec-based Société du droit de reproduction des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs au Canada (SODRAC), CMRRA has flied a joint tariff application with the Copyright Board of Canada to set a fair royalty rate for songwriters and music publishers for online music sales. "To speed the arrival of these services, we took the unprecedented step of issuing online licenses before establishing the royalty rate," says David Basskin, president of CMRRA. "It is in everybody's best interest to get the licensed commercial services in this country struggle to make a living from their work, so getting fair rates for songwriters in the online domain is absolutely critical. That's what the tariff application is all about."

CMRRA has entered into an Online Licensing Agreement (OLA) with two Canada-based online companies, Puretracks and Archambault, and Napster and MusicNet in the States. Under these agreements, CMRRA has cleared tens of thousands of songs for use by the online services. The agreements, which cover the period from October 2003 to December 2004, call for negotiation on the royalty rate or, failing that, arbitration. To date, a rate has yet to be negotiated, and the issue recently went into arbitration. "While we remain open to continued negotiations with the online companies, we must ensure that a fair rate is set for writers and publishers within a reasonable amount of time," says Basskin.

For more information, please visit www.cmrra.ca

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