In Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v. SODRAC 2003 Inc.,
2015 SCC 57, once again the Supreme Court has had to consider an
appeal from a decision of the Copyright Board. The basic
question this time was whether the Copyright Board ought to have
imposed royalty fees on the CBC for the creation of incidental
copies that arise as a technical part of the digital broadcasting
process.
The majority, citing technological neutrality and balance,
upheld the decision of the Copyright Board on this point. The
minority, also citing technological neutrality and balance, would
have reversed the decision of the Copyright Board and held that no
royalties were to be paid for such incidental copies.
There could no question that copies were being made. The
question before the court was whether they were incidental to the
broadcasting (for which royalties were already being paid to SOCAN)
or a separate reproduction for which additional royalties should be
paid to SODRAC. and if royalties
