At a drive-in, the music bill is not the cars that show up. It is the cars the lot can hold, times three. The Copyright Board wrote that conversion into SOCAN Tariff 6, two supplements published Saturday, August 22, 2026, in the Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 160, Number 34. For 2017 through 2024, a motion picture theatre pays $1.50 a year for each of those seats, with a floor of $150. Any amount the tariff says is owed is due Friday, November 20, 2026.
The next three years drop the seat count. They take a percentage of the basic ticket.
Lara Taylor, Secretary General of the Board, published both texts pursuant to section 70.1 of the Copyright Act. The citations are 2026 CB 8-T-1 for the earlier years and 2026 CB 8-T-2 for 2025 through 2027. Both also cite 2026 CB 8, SOCAN Tariff 6, Motion Picture Theatres (2017-2027). The royalties cover the performance of “any or all of the works in SOCAN’s repertoire,” at any time and as often as desired, in “a motion picture theatre or any establishment exhibiting motion pictures at any time during the year.”
Capacity, then half, then a twelfth
The 2017-2024 tariff is a capacity charge. The annual rate is $1.50 per seat. The minimum annual fee is $150 per theatre. Drive-ins are converted by a single sentence: seating capacity “is deemed to be three times the maximum number of automobiles which may be accommodated at any one time.”
Theatres that open three days a week or less pay half. A house dark for a full month knocks one twelfth off the fee for each such month. The tariff measures the automobiles the place can hold. It does not count the automobiles that arrive.
A concert is not this tariff. If the exhibition of a film is not “an integral part of the program,” the royalties move to other SOCAN tariffs.
SOCAN may audit the user’s books and records on reasonable notice, during normal business hours. Amounts payable are exclusive of federal, provincial, or other governmental taxes. Late amounts carry daily interest at one percent above the Bank Rate published by the Bank of Canada, using the rate in effect on the last day of the previous month. The interest does not compound.
Then the due date, in one sentence that covers every half-year the tariff names:
“Any amount owed by virtue of this tariff in respect to any semi-annual period covered by this tariff shall be due on Friday, November 20, 2026.”
The earlier tariff is annual. It still uses that semi-annual language for the bill.
The ticket that does not count the premium
For 2025, 2026, and 2027, the Board replaces the seat with the door.
The annual royalty becomes a percentage of “general admission revenue,” with a higher floor: $200 per theatre. The percentages step up each year. 2025 is 0.094 percent. 2026 is 0.096 percent. 2027 is 0.098 percent.
General admission revenue is calculated per theatre, for each half-year, by multiplying tickets issued in each admission category by an “average non-premium price.” That price is the weighted average of tickets sold in the category “for the most basic experience offered by the theatre” in that category. The half-years are January to June and July to December.
The four ticket categories are written into the tariff. Adult tickets are typically ages 14 to 64. Child tickets are typically ages 13 and under. Senior tickets are typically ages 65 and over. “Other” tickets are the rest: discounted group purchases, including for schools, loyalty programs, gift certificates, and other non-standard types.
The royalty base is that basic experience, not a premium price.
The concert carve-out stays. A film that is not integral to the program still belongs under other tariffs.
Thirty days, six years, ten percent
The paperwork changes with the formula. No later than 30 days after each half-year, the user files a report with SOCAN that sets out general admission revenue, tickets sold by category, and the average non-premium price for each category, together with payment of the fees due for that half-year.
The user keeps the records for six years after the end of the year they relate to. SOCAN may audit those records at any time during that window, again on reasonable notice and during normal business hours.
If an audit finds that royalties due were understated in any month by more than 10 percent, the theatre pays the reasonable costs of the audit within 30 days of the demand. Amounts that are short because of an error or omission by SOCAN do not count toward that 10 percent.
Adjustments, including overpayments, require notice, an explanation, a proposed solution, and the other party’s consent, which is not to be unreasonably withheld. No adjustment may be made to royalties paid more than six years earlier, except for adjustments that follow an audit under this tariff. Adjustments to other SOCAN tariffs or agreements need both parties’ consent.
Taxes stay extra. Late interest is the same formula as the earlier tariff: one percent above the Bank Rate, daily, not compounded.
The 2025-2027 text then uses the same due-date sentence as the 2017-2024 tariff. Any amount owed for any semi-annual period it covers “shall be due on Friday, November 20, 2026.” It also requires the 30-day report and payment after each half-year. The Board published both rules in the same Saturday issue.
A SOCAN concert tariff appeared in a Gazette supplement in May. This one is for movie theatres.
Friday, November 20
The first tariff is a number of seats. The second is a number of tickets, priced at the most basic experience in each category. One due date sits on both.
A three-day house still gets half of the 2017-2024 rates. A seasonal house still gets a twelfth off for each dark month. A drive-in still converts its parking capacity into seats, three for each automobile the lot can take. From 2025, those conversions fall away. The royalty follows tickets issued, the four age and “other” buckets, and the basic-experience price, with a $200 floor.
November 20, 2026, is a Friday. That is the day the Board named for amounts owed under either supplement.
The cinema tariffs are in Saturday’s Gazette supplements. The archive stays free. A paid membership funds the capacity to read them.
Related Hansard Files Articles
Source Documents
Copyright Board. (2026, August 22). SOCAN Tariff 6, Motion Picture Theatres (2017-2024) (2026 CB 8-T-1). Supplement to the Canada Gazette, Part I, 160(34). https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2026/2026-08-22/html/sup1-eng.html
Copyright Board. (2026, August 22). SOCAN Tariff 6, Motion Picture Theatres (2025-2027) (2026 CB 8-T-2). Supplement to the Canada Gazette, Part I, 160(34). https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2026/2026-08-22/html/sup2-eng.html
King’s Printer for Canada. (2026, August 22). Canada Gazette, Part I, 160(34). https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2026/2026-08-22/pdf/g1-16034.pdf
wow, I had no idea. I knew live music had fees, I assumed that movie distributors paid for music rights for movies.