Canada demands 5% of revenue from Netflix, Spotify, and other streamers
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Then it seems particularly applicable, given how streaming is just bringing back all the things we hated about cable to begin with.
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I suppose Amazon can argue that Prime subscription is mainly for shipping cost discounts, and video is covered by only a small percentage of the fee incurred.
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Will they provide exemptions linked to Canadian content? Bring on the Canucksploitation direct-to-streaming film bonanza
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For some reason, that just made me imagine a film starring Jason Statham aggressively driving to Timmy's while shouting "SORRY" every time he passes another car, only to be ultimately prevented from reaching Timmy's by a pack of rabid geese.
Then again, Shoresy exists, so Canucksploitation is already in effect.
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You know, at first I felt a flash of outrage at a government overreaching in such a greedy and exploitative manner, and then I remembered it was streaming services, so now I'm not sure which side I support the least.
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I do not think all Canadians want to pay a tax like this, especially if they do not even use it.
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Yeah, like political corruption.
I have no problem with them shaking down the big tech companies, but if you really trace a lot of these bills through, you’ll find that the money goes to buddies of the governing party, in particular Bell and Rogers.
The the last one like this, I think it was Bill C 18, was particularly egregious. It sounded like it was for supporting journalism, but the vast majority of the money simply went to Bell and Rogers shareholders
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Does Canada already collect VAT on the streaming fees?
If not, this is reasonable since corporate income taxes are a joke.
If yes, this is double-dipping where the VAT should be used for funding indigenous content instead.
If not, this is reasonable since corporate income taxes are a joke.
If yes, this is double-dipping where the VAT should be used for funding indigenous content instead.
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Would be great if it was tax, but it’s not. They always do things this way so they can make it sound nice but in the end, the money mostly goes to their buddies, particularly Bell and Rogers.Their country their tax.
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Canada is good about supporting its local culture. That’s one reason there’s such an unusually high number of successful Canadian music acts
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"The MPA-Canada said the CRTC didn't fully consider "the significant contributions streamers make in working directly with Canada's creative communities.""
That's called a backroom deal then, isn't it MPA-Canada? See, you should be happy! Now you can just shut up, sit down, and pay your new taxes like a good boy and you don't need to worry about the hassle of scheduling all these secret meetings to force creative communities to fight each other for your money!
That's called a backroom deal then, isn't it MPA-Canada? See, you should be happy! Now you can just shut up, sit down, and pay your new taxes like a good boy and you don't need to worry about the hassle of scheduling all these secret meetings to force creative communities to fight each other for your money!
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Maybe we could get SCTV streaming. Fun fact: the "Great White North" sketch was to fulfill Canadian content rules.
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Yes, I can confirm that Netflix charges both Provincial and Federal sales tax.
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If you're young, no doubt you're unaware that the very robust newspaper market was fed by classified ads for about a century plus before craigslist showed up. In a similar way, if no one is watching CBC, CBC has less money to spend on news gathering because they're not making as much money in advertising.
Since the streaming services do nothing to inform the public or provide a public service, they're getting a special tax basically to make sure that public service is provided by the govt of Canada. Many small nations do similarly with music sales, btw, a %age of every CD/subscription goes to indigenous Belgian musicians, French opera, Swiss yodeling, etc.
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It is a bit odd to see pennies in the image heading the article. Canada stopped making pennies over 10 years ago, and the coin is not used by the public. If you pay for something in cash the payment is rounded to the nearest 5 cent increment.
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Money losing streaming services asked to pay percentage of revenue not income so I wonder how many will decide to just exit the Canadian market.
Spotify especially as they already pay 63% of their global revenue to the record labels so 5% of the remainder may just tip Canada into the not worth it bin.
Spotify especially as they already pay 63% of their global revenue to the record labels so 5% of the remainder may just tip Canada into the not worth it bin.
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I would lump that under as the article states "The agency also said that streaming companies "will have some flexibility to direct parts of their contributions to support Canadian television content directly.""
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Yeah, that's the idea. The cable companies want to keep their prices high and can't compete with the streaming services, so they need to force the streamers to raise their prices.
Every second thing our federal (and some provincial) governments do are for the benefit of their corporate buddies.
It's endless political corruption and people cheer it on.
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Because Reaganomics is working so well that the Republican candidate is running on outright socialism and protectionism, and the Tories in the UK, and virtually every other right winger in the West?
Losing local news has done the US no favors, has it?
Reagan's mindless cozy aphorisms broke our economy and soon enough, our democracy and way of life. Rewarding the lazy rich with royal prerogative is no way to run an economy.
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Gotta have something to compete with When Calls the Heart for Canucksploitation.
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Yeah, I'm genuinely curious about what practical differences there are between this and a tax, if any. Even the groups lobbying against it called it tax.
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