Originally published on May 9, 2002
Introduction
On Thursday, May 2, 2002, the Federal Court of Appeal partially upheld a Copyright Board decision regarding copyright liability on the Internet. In a ruling with broad implications, the Court reviewed the Board’s decision on Tariff 22, a proposed tariff relating to the communication of musical works over the Internet, filed by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).
In its 96-page ruling the Court held:
- With the exception of transmissions from a cache, the activities of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in providing access to the Internet and hosting content on their servers do not make them liable for the communication of works over the Internet.
