Canadians Pay CD R Levy Survey Shows Opinion

Here's one for the "Did You Know" (or care) file: Canadians pay extra for their rewritable CDs with the understanding that the end use will be justified. This means that for every CD-R sold, a small levy of twenty-one cents is forwarded to the Canadian music industry.

According to source, a recent survey of Canadians showed that my countrymen (and women) on average support the tax and the silent understanding of what the end result might be.

But, not everyone does. Many voices within the Canadian music industry see the tax as a sort-of license to "ill" (thank you, Beastie Boys...who are not Canadian), where mass piracy more than makes up for the profits gained through the small levy.

In addition, the twenty-one cent tax was introduced in the year 1999, meaning that the same amount today buys starving artists less than it did before we all realized what a crock the millennium scare was.

The survey found out some pretty interesting things about the Canadian attitude towards piracy and compensation for the country's music industry. 60% of Canadians aged 18 and older believe that musicians and those behind the scenes deserve a percentage of the CD-R sales, with significant support for a hike in the levy. Many would support the tax even if it was raised to thirty or forty cents per disc. (Source: theglobeandmail.com)

The survey itself has received its fair share of criticism. According to American sources, many of those polled had no experience in using blank media for purposes such as producing pirated music CDs. In addition, only 20% of the Canadians surveyed even realized a levy existed. (Source: arstechnica.com)

Count me in.