Amazon joins streamers’ advocacy group amid streaming act court challenges

Amazon.com, Inc. is set to become the seventh member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) as the battle between major online streamers and the CRTC continues to play out in the Federal Court of Appeal. The multinational tech company’s Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios will formally become part of the industry group on Oct. 1, joining the ranks of other major international entertainment studios and distributors such as Netflix Inc., Walt Disney Co., Paramount Global, Sony Group Corp., Comcast Corp.’s Universal Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. “The MPA is the global voice for a growing and evolving industry, and welcoming Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios to our ranks will broaden our collective policymaking and content protection efforts on behalf of our most innovative and creative companies,” said MPA CEO Charles Rivkin in a press release. The addition comes as both Amazon and MPA-Canada — the association’s Canadian arm — pursue legal challenges against the CRTC’s recent decision requiring foreign streaming services to make financial contributions supporting the Canadian broadcasting sector. The new regulatory policy was issued under the Online Streaming Act and requires foreign streamers generating over $25 million in annual Canadian revenues to allocate five percent of those revenues to various production funds. Filed with the court in July, MPA-Canada is seeking an appeal of the commission’s requirement that part of the base contribution – 1.5 per cent – must go towards the Independent Local News Fund, which provides financial support to independent local news outlets that are not part of large-scale companies. MPA-Canada explained in its application that it supports the policy goals of the act and is not challenging the other requirements to contribute to production funds such as the Indigenous Screen Office, Black Screen Office, and Canada Media Fund. However, because MPA-Canada members have “no rational connection to the production of local news,” it argued that they should not be forced to subsidize it. Shortly after MPA-Canada’s challenge, Amazon followed suit. It, however, took issue with the base contribution requirement as a whole. Amazon accused the CRTC of being discriminatory by targeting foreign streamers and not domestic ones. It alleged the policy amounts to inequitable treatment that is not only beyond the commission’s authority, but also disregards existing contributions that foreign streamers have been making to the Canadian broadcasting system. Additionally, Apple Inc. and Spotify AB have filed separate challenges against the CRTC’s decision. MPA-Canada declined The Wire Report’s request for comment on the two related requests for appeal, while Amazon has yet to respond. – Reporting by Phalen Tynes-MacDonald at pcreed@thewirereport.ca

Amazon joins streamers’ advocacy group amid streaming act court challenges

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By Phalen Tynes-MacDonald
| September 19, 2024

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Amazon joins streamers’ advocacy group amid streaming act court challenges

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By Phalen Tynes-MacDonald
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