Under Canada's Copyright Act, it is legal for individuals to copy recorded music for their own personal use. In exchange, there is a mechanism to compensate those with rights in that music: royalties for private copying. The royalties attach to the types of blank media that are commonly used for copying.

In 1999, the first tariff for private copying was approved by the Canadian Copyright Board in the goal of collecting royalties for the copying of all or a major part of a sound recording by an individual for his or her private use.

The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) is an organization in charge of collecting royalties on the sale of blank audio media in Canada according to the tariff set by the Board. The collected sums are redistributed by the intermediary of CPCC members, including SODRAC.

We must point out that the Copyright Act does not foresee royalties for private copies of audiovisual works, such as those on DVD.

If you have not yet authorized SODRAC to collect this royalty on your behalf, please contact our Member Services Department.
It should be noted that by entrusting SODRAC with the collection of these royalties, the songwriter/composer and the publisher will receive their respective shares (equal representation is provided to each of these categories of rights holders).

Tariff

Royalty rates in effect according to the 2008-2009 private copying tariff are as follows:

For more information, please consult the 2008-2009 Tariff on the Copyright Board’s website.