Canada to tax music downloads to "compensate artists"

The Canadian Copyright Board has approved yet another tax designed to punish legal music purchasers while encouraging underworld of music piracy. The result is that people who legally (and morally) purchase music will now be punished for those who pirate.

The board approved a 3.1¢ tax on individual songs, bringing the price to the less catchy $1.02. The tarriff has been designed to compensate artists for the reproduction of their songs – as opposed to the other ¢99 which must vanish into thin air. When you purchase music and support small Canadian artists like the The Weakerthans, the extra money will be going to artists based on sales – meaning, your money will go to rock stars like Nickelback.

The law is also retroactive to 1996, meaning companies like PureTracks and Apple's iTunes will need to pay for the past few years as well. You can see more about the situation here.

Canada already imposes a tax on blank CDs, even if they are used to backup data or your own music. The side effect is that when an independent band records a CD themselves, the money will go to a clearing house to be distributed to other, more successful artists.