10. Another Perspective

B. Options for Administration of Intellectual Property Rights in
CCCanadian Cultural Heritage Institutions (continued)

Collective Administration of Performing Rights

The Copyright Act provides that societies, such as the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN)4 may administer rights associated with the performance in public of dramatic or musical works. Recent amendments to the Copyright Act have also introduced neighboring rights for musicians’ performances, with such rights attaching to musical works.5 The Copyright Act removes from performing rights societies any common-law rights (such as case law, contractual rights, and other rights for individually licensing works that common law provides) in musical works. Instead, it imposes a set of tariffs and provides the means to recover tariff fees, including injunctive relief and a statutory right of action.6

To determine what fees they can charge, a performing rights society must file its proposed list of fees with the Copyright Board and address any requests from the public for information concerning its repertoires in current use. The list of fees is then published in The Canada Gazette7 to provide any interested parties with notice of the proposed fee schedule. Any objections to these fees may be filed with the Copyright Board, which considers these objections in determining the final fees the performing rights society can charge for the use of works in its repertoire. In this instance, the Copyright Board also has the jurisdiction to settle issues associated with the fee structure, such as notice requirements.8

Introduction to
Managing Digital Assets