The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) announced that it approves of a new proposal by the Liberal Party of Canada that calls on the Government of Canada to pay $35 million per year to the music industry.

For more information visit: www.cpcc.ca

Unedited press release follows:

The CPCC applauds the Liberals support of the private copying regime

(Toronto) – The Liberal party of Canada today announced a new proposal for continued compensation to rights holders for copies made of musical works.

“Specifically, the Liberal Party will seek to introduce a new Private Copying Compensation Payment of $35 million to be transferred to Canadian artists each year, through the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC). Liberals are proposing a new statutory program, written in law within the Copyright Act, which will increase at the rate of inflation and be reviewed every five years”, stated a Liberal press release earlier today.

“The current private copying levy was introduced into law in 1997 by a Liberal government and the CPCC encourages members from all political parties to support this amendment to C-32 which would provide compensation to rights holders for private copies made of their music,” stated Annie Morin, Chair of the CPCC Board of Directors. “Copyright is a difficult issue and it is gratifying to see elected officials working to finding compromises in balancing the needs of the consumers and the rights of the creators. I am pleased that the concept of fair compensation for artists is finally being addressed in a meaningful way in this proposal”

The CPCC is the non-profit agency that collects the private copying royalty and distributes it to its member collectives, which represent songwriters, composers, music publishers, recording artists, musicians and record companies.