Streaming services challenge Canadian rules on revenue-sharing for news
![CRTC A person navigates to the online social-media pages of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on a cellphone in Ottawa on Monday, May 17, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/6/4/crtc-1-6912791-1720118681891.jpg)
Global streaming companies said on Thursday they were challenging new Canadian rules that oblige them to help pay for local news, saying Ottawa had acted unreasonably and provided no legal basis for the demand.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the national broadcasting regulator, said in June that major online streaming services must contribute 5 per cent of their Canadian revenues to support the domestic broadcasting system, including news generation.
The Motion Picture Association-Canada, which represents firms including Netflix and Disney+, has filed applications in a federal court for leave to appeal the rules and also ask for a judicial review.
"The decision does not reveal any basis for the CRTC's conclusion that it is appropriate to require foreign online undertakings to contribute to news production," it said in a legal filing.
"The CRTC acted unreasonably in compelling foreign online undertakings to contribute monies to support news production."
The CRTC said the funding would be directed to areas of what it called immediate need in the broadcasting system, such as local news on radio and television, French-language content, and Indigenous content.
The regulator declined to comment because the matter is before the courts. It has previously said the rules, which are due to become effective in September, will raise roughly $200 million a year.
The measure was introduced under the auspices of a law passed last year that the government says will ensure that online streaming services promote Canadian music and stories, and support Canadian jobs.
Other streaming platforms the MPA-Canada serves include Paramount, Sony, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros Discovery.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil, editing by David Ljunggren and Diane Craft)
IN DEPTH
![](/polopoly_fs/1.6922467.1718138898!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
![](/polopoly_fs/1.6850735.1713368648!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government鈥檚 three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party鈥檚 popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn鈥檛 be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca 星空传媒
![](/polopoly_fs/1.6931227.1718723979!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Thousands of employees with the Liquor Control Board of Ontario are set to walk off their jobs on Friday as the union says 'talks have broken down' and it is not hopeful that a deal will be reached to avert a strike.
Britain's Labour on track for landslide victory, exit poll suggests, amid anger with Conservatives
Britain's Labour Party headed for a landslide victory Friday in a parliamentary election, an exit poll suggested, as voters punished the governing Conservatives after 14 years of economic and political upheaval.
Saskatchewan has the lowest hourly minimum wage. How does it stack up to the rest of Canada?
Hourly minimum wages increased in several Canadian provinces this spring with more on the horizon, which economists say will likely impact workers and businesses differently.
Greg Fertuck will spend life behind bars with no chance of parole until he is 90 years old, a judge ruled on Thursday at Saskatoon's Court of King's Bench.
Trying to sell or buy a home this summer? What a realtor says you should know
In the first few weeks of summer, the real estate sector is experiencing an upturn marked by more housing inventory, a Canadian realtor says
As receipts tick ever higher for Canadians at the grocery store and shoppers continue to search for savings, one Canadian grocer has ended a perceived deal.
Hurricane Beryl churns toward Mexico after leaving destruction in Jamaica and eastern Caribbean
After leaving a trail of destruction across the eastern Caribbean and at least nine people dead, Hurricane Beryl weakened as it chugged over open water toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday, going from the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic to Category 2 by the afternoon.
CSIS director David Vigneault stepping down after seven years on the job
David Vigneault says he is stepping down from his job at the head of Canada鈥檚 spy agency. The director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, who spent seven years at the helm, is leaving the public service altogether.
Canada to host the 70th annual NATO session in Montreal
Canada will host the 70th annual session of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly from Nov. 22 to 25 in Montreal, Que.
Local Spotlight
![](/polopoly_fs/1.6950745.1720054614!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Lacey may look like just another pet chicken on Emily Carrington鈥檚 B.C. property. But she has a title her coop mates don鈥檛: Guinness World Record holder.
Philip Kim, who competes as "B-Boy Phil Wizard," is set to make Canadian sports history this summer as the country's first-ever Olympic breaking athlete.
A new documentary filmed in Nova Scotia by marine biologist and veterinarian Dr. Chris Harvey Clark explores the increased number of white shark observations in Canadian waters.
A never-before-lived-in mansion in Whistler is on the market for $17.9 million 鈥 with the listing describing it as a 'steal for the international buyer' due to the current exchange rate, which puts the price in U.S. dollars at $13.1 million.
Irish singer Niall Horan had to ditch his car and walk to Scotiabank Arena where his concert was being held last weekend because the traffic was 'too bad' downtown.
A rave at the Ontario Science Centre was the place where Greg LeBlanc says his relationship first began with his husband Mark in 1997.
Travellers watch as WestJet cancels flights with no end to mechanics strike in sight
Travellers flying with WestJet continue to watch as the airline cancels more flights due to a sudden strike by its mechanics union.
An unknown Newfoundland soldier killed in the First World War is being laid to rest
The remains of a soldier from Newfoundland killed in the battlefields of France during the First World War will be laid to rest in St. John's Monday, bringing an emotional end to a years-long effort in a place still shaken and forever changed by the bloodshed.
The city is entering the final stages of resuming water service through its repaired feeder main, as water consumption continues to fall below the city鈥檚 threshold level.