Common menu bar links
Breadcrumb Trail
ARCHIVED - Copyright Board Canada
This page has been archived.
Archived Content
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.
SECTION II - ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES BY STRATEGIC OUTCOME
Fair decision-making to provide proper incentives for the creation and use of copyrighted works.
The following activity contributes to this strategic outcome:
Program Activity Name: Copyright Tariff Setting and Issuance of Licences
Financial Resources
($ thousands)
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
| 2,606 | 2,606 | 2,606 |
Human Resources
(Full-time Equivalents (FTE))
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
| 17 FTE | 17 FTE | 17 FTE |
The statutory mandate of the Board is to establish tariffs to be paid for the use of copyrighted works, when the administration of such copyright is entrusted to a collective-administration society. It is by rendering decisions and issuing licences that the Board fulfill its mandate.
Both the copyright holders and users are stakeholders in this outcome. Consequently, interventions before the Board are thorough and sophisticated, involving experts witnesses, litigation specialists and detailed econometric, business and financial studies, surveys and evidence. In rendering decisions, the Board must consider the underlying technologies (such as the Internet, digital radio, satellite communications), the economic issues and the interests of owners and users in order to contribute, with fair and equitable decisions, to the continued growth of this component of Canada's knowledge industries. Sound tariff decisions avoid erious disruption in affected sectors of the national economy and costly time-consuming court challenges. The Board will be able to evaluate its achievement in this regard by performing evaluations and studies of the economic impact of the Board's decisions on particular sectors of the Canadian economy.
The Board is continuously looking for ways to improve the efficiency of the hearing process by minimizing the overall participants' expenses while ensuring that the process and the tariffs remain fair and equitable. The key partners in this endeavour are the private interest parties who appear before the Board, and include the various collective societies that represent rights owners and associations and organizations representing users of works.
Improving the efficiency of the regulatory process involves continual refinements in scheduling of witnesses, establishing and communicating the parameters of the hearing to participants, consulting with key stakeholders and developing codes of hearing practice and related guidelines for the conduct of hearings. By improving the efficiency of the tariff hearing process, this activity is expected to contribute to the important objective of reducing the regulatory burden. It is by performing evaluations of the time duration of the process and of participants' satisfaction that the Board will be able to assess the performance achieved through the activity.
Pursuant to section 77 of the Act, the Board may grant licences that authorize the use of published works, fixed performances, published sound recordings and fixed communication signals if the copyright owner cannot be located. Since 1989, the Board has issued 214 such licences. The Board's objective with respect to this activity is to issue licences in a timely manner. The duration of the process will help the Board assess its performance with respect to this activity.