French music group suing CRTC over 2012 funding decision

In 2012, the CRTC released a broadcasting decision that required Sirius XM Holdings Inc. to allocate, as a condition of licence, 20 per cent of some of its revenues to an English-language music fund and 10 per cent to its French-language counterpart. Part of the problem for the Alliance Nationale De L’Industrie Musicale (ANIM), a representative for francophone and Acadian music, was that the new allocation structure, whose purpose is to bolster Canadian content in both official languages, upset an equilibrium previously maintained by the CRTC when French-language Musicaction was receiving the same amount as English-language Factor. It received, annually, half of what its linguistic sibling would get over the next five years of Sirius XM’s licence term. However, it was allegedly what was not done leading-up to that pivotal hearing that would set ANIM on a course of complaints first leveled to the CRTC, then to the Official Languages Commissioner and now to the Federal Court. Last month, the group filed notice to the court alleging the CRTC simply did not adequately inform French minority communities of the impending licence renewal hearing for Sirius XM that would eventually determine funding allocations that would negatively impact it. Sirius XM is required to put four per cent of its gross revenues toward the funds as part of its CanCon obligations. “The Commission considers that requiring the licensee to allocate no less than 20% of its annual CCD contribution to FACTOR, 10% to MUSICACTION and 5% to the would diminish the concern raised by the licensee regarding out-of-scale funding to MUSICACTION and the CRFC, all while requiring the licensee to provide substantial funding to key national CCD players,” the 2012 CRTC decision read. José Betrand, spokesman and president of ANIM, said in a phone interview that the court complaint is intended to clarify the CRTC’s obligations under the Official Languages Act. “The main issue at stake is the fact that in 2019, being in a bilingual country where two languages are equal, we still have to fight for our rights,” Betrand said. “There’s an OLA in place and still somebody and some instances of the CRTC are going around that Act.” Lawyer for ANIM, Melanie Power, said in an interview that the issue is about equal access for minority language rights and the need for administrative bodies like the CRTC to adapt their processes to those minority communities. The CRTC declined to comment because the matter is before the courts. The CRTC holds working group meetings with Official Language Minority Communities as part of its obligations under the OLA to close information gaps between the regulator and those minority voices. In 2005, the OLA was amended with Bill S-3, which provided legal remedies to enforce obligations of federal institutions to take “positive measures” to support those minority communities. But before the hearing in question, ANIM alleges the CRTC did not share information with French minority communities regarding the public hearing and, crucially, the impact the CRTC decision could have on their communities, thus allegedly abrogating its responsibilities under the law. In 2013, ANIM brought its complaint first to the CRTC in a letter that was co-signed by the Association quebecoise de L’industrie du disque (ADISQ), the Association of Professional Music Publishers (APEM), and the Professional Society of Authors and Composers of Quebec (SPACQ). In it, the collective blasted the commission about the cuts to Musicaction, as well as the alleged lack of transparency, charging that the decision was made without proper notice to the affected groups that such a change in funding would take place. A month later, the CRTC responded by saying the question of funding allocation only came up during the hearings, the notice said. A few months later, ANIM filed a complaint to the official languages commissioner, alleging the CRTC failed to uphold two sections of the Official Languages Act by not adequately and equally notifying the French minority communities of the hearing and its implications. But while the languages commissioner initially ruled in its favour in a preliminary report, it reversed course in its final report this year by concluding no wrongdoing on the part of the CRTC. ANIM is now asking for Musicaction to be financially compensated for the information imbalance and to compel the CRTC to hand the court information about the decision not in its possession. ANIM estimates that if the CRTC gave Musicaction the same as Factor, it would’ve received about $14 million over the six-year period compared to the $7 million it actually received. In the 2018-19 year, Musicaction received roughly $1.36 million from 56 satellite radio companies, while Factor received nearly $3 million during the same period, the notice said. ANIM's current director general Benoit Henry and board member Jean-Pierre Caissie appeared in May 2018 before a Canadian Heritage committee studying remuneration models for artists and creative industries to point out the importance of royalties to the financial health of the industry and pushed to maintain or improve that. The comments -- which pointed to data by the CRTC showing the vast majority of francophones listen to traditional radio -- were put against the backdrop of the influx of music streaming services that mean fewer royalties for Canadian content, which is one of many subjects a government-appointed panel is looking at as it reviews Canada’s communications laws, which will yield recommendations in January 2020. The official languages commissioner had already closed a case that has since also spawned a Federal Court challenge. Earlier this year, NDP MP François Choquette filed a judicial review application following what he called the premature closing of a languages investigation into whether a 2017 Netflix deal struck with the federal government allegedly underserved francophone Canadians. After questioning Netflix on the $500-million deal, this publication discovered that no specific amount was actually allocated to the French-language market. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

French music group suing CRTC over 2012 funding decision

Broadcast | October 3, 2019

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French music group suing CRTC over 2012 funding decision

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