The Federal Court of Appeal has granted SOCAN leave to intervene in the judicial review of the CRTC’s decision requiring digital streaming platforms earning more than $25 million annually in Canadian revenues to contribute five percent of those revenues to funds that support the creation of new Canadian content.
SOCAN’s specialized understanding of the music royalty system enables us to speak to positions advanced by certain streaming platforms that royalties paid to rightsholders (including SOCAN) should be deducted from the mandated contribution amounts. As Canada’s largest music rights organization, SOCAN represents the interests of songwriters, composers, and music publishers, and has a direct stake in ensuring that the contributions framework is implemented in a way that upholds the intent of the Online Streaming Act. It’s currently the only stakeholder to have been granted leave to intervene in the case.
“When digital platforms profit from the use of musical works, copyright royalties are a fundamental cost of doing business, and a vital source of income for the songwriters, composers, and publishers whose work fuels the industry,” said Andrea Kokonis, SOCAN’s Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel. “These royalties are, and have always been, separate and distinct from the financial contributions made to programs like FACTOR and Musicaction, which exist to support the creation of new music by Canadian creators, not to compensate them for the use of their music.”
SOCAN will appear before the Federal Court of Appeal at a hearing in Toronto on June 9, 2025. It will be represented by Casey Chisick, Jessica Zagar, and Steven Henderson of Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP.