Canada's high court rules on Web music

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OTTAWA, July 12 (UPI) -- Canada's Supreme Court ruled Thursday legal Internet music downloads don't entitle artists and songwriters additional royalties under copyright law.

The nine judges were unanimous in ruling that such sites as iTunes that charge per download are acting legally and already paying royalties, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The judges were also unanimous in overturning appeals that online music previews should generate royalties under copyright provisions for research purposes.

However, the court upheld collecting tariffs from streaming music sites under the "communication to the public" right, the report said.

Similarly, in a 5-4 decision, the judges said a video game sold legally over the Internet should not incur additional royalties for music or other artist performances, as it's direct and not communicating with the public.

In another copyright ruling, the judges ruled music embedded in online movies and TV is no longer considered to be separate from royalties on the shows themselves, the report said.