![]() ![]() The impact of technological change, developing consumer demands, res judicata, and the complexity of the Canadian royalty tariff certification regime, were all in play before Justice Lafrenière. Moreover, to the extent those telecommunications companies withheld payments to SOCAN owed under such certified tariffs or settlement agreements, they were now required to pay back the amount withheld, with interest. The Federal Court’s recent decision in Rogers Communication Canada Inc v Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, 2021 FC 207, (“ Rogers 2021”) confirmed that, notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s 2012 decisions in Entertainment Software Association v Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, 2012 SCC 34 (“ ESA”) and Rogers Communications Inc v Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, 2012 SCC 35 (“ Rogers”), telecommunications companies are not entitled to repayment from SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers, the Canadian performing rights organization that controls and administers performance and communication royalties related to the copyright in musical works) for royalties paid with respect to communicating downloadable mobile phone ringtones under certified tariffs and settlement agreements entered into prior to the Supreme Court’s decision. The Blacksonian principle-that law is not made, but merely discovered-does not operate to nullify royalty payments for communicating downloadable musical works by telecommunication made under private settlement agreements between parties or Tariffs certified by the Canadian Copyright Board and not overturned by the courts. Not surprisingly, the iPhone is one of the few phones capable of playing MP3s that will not work with Cellware’s service.Cancel Proceed For Whom the Ringtone Tolls - Federal Court Confirms no Repayment Owed to Telecommunications Companies by SOCAN for Communicating Downloadable Ringtonesīy Tamara Céline Winegust and Naomi Zener Apple, for example, charges an extra 99 cents, above the price of a song itself, to use a song as a ringtone for the iPhone. Still, the music industry would like to preserve its extra revenue from ![]() Some phones make it easy, and there is a lot of software available to help people do this. Using an MP3 file as a ringtone is certainly not new. Of course, Cellware does not verify that you have actually paid for the song you are converting. Out copyrighted content for this aspect of the service because it deems that this falls within the fair use doctrine - the rights of someone who buys a copyrighted work to use it in certain ways, such as On the other hand, the site makes it incredibly easy for people to upload MP3 files of songs and then send 20-second clips of them to their own cellphones to use as ringtones. On the site for others to hear, so copyrighted songs can be blocked. Unlike most user-generated sites which post all content and wait for copyright owners to complain, Cellware has someone listen to every ringtone before it is put up Ferber has a rather interesting take on this. Uploading and sharing MP3 files? Isn’t there a bit of a copyright issue there? The site also offers anyone who uploads ringtones or other content a share of the advertising revenue they generate. These can be tagged, rated, searched and shared in a way that any user of YouTube would recognize. You upload whole MP3 tracks, edit them into clips and even mix several tracks together into a mashup. Indeed, there are some simple Flash tools that let But the main point is for people to upload and create their own ringtones. There is some oddball professional content, a library of sound effects and some indie rock. The site also offers images for use as wallpaper, downloadable games and video clips, also supported by ads. The business model is advertising: banner ads on the Web site you use to pick the ringtones to download, and on the SMS message you need to receive in order to get the ring tones on the phone. Various subscription services that pitch themselves through rather garish ads on social networks with their prices in hard-to-read print. ![]() First, the site offers free ringtones, in a world where most ringtones are either sold for as much as $2.49 in conjunction with major labels, or through There are a couple of nifty bits to what Mr. The site, which officially launches Tuesday, is called Cellware, and it was founded by John Ferber, who started with his brother Scott. But I ran into one today that seems interesting it’s something like YouTube for ![]() Too many start-up ideas are rather boring combinations of trendy concepts - say, a social network for hedge fund mangers. ![]()
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