Days before its multimillion-dollar case was to be heard before the Supreme Court, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters reached an agreement with Ottawa on its lengthy battle over Part 2 fees.

CAB and the broadcasters it represents have dropped the case following the settlement. In return the feds have agreed to waive fees left unpaid since 2006 when the legal battle escalated, worth a reported $450 million, and to have the CRTC work out a new fee system. But Ottawa will not refund the roughly $679.6 million paid by broadcasters between 1997, when the fees were introduced, and 2006.

Broadcasters have long opposed the fees as an illegal tax, noting that the cash went into Ottawa’s all-purpose coffers and not towards television-specific costs, as is the case with Part 1 fees.

‘Under this settlement, our government is recommending that the CRTC develop a new, forward-looking fee regime that would be capped at $100 million per year,’ said Heritage Minister James Moore in a release.

The deal mirrors a recommendation made earlier this year by CRTC chief Konrad von Finckenstein, who suggested that Ottawa should stop charging the fees in exchange for broadcasters dropping any claim on fees already paid.

‘The agreement represents a reasonable compromise for both sides. It resolves treatment of contested fees and reflects a fair fee regime going forward,’ said CAB chair Charlotte Bell in a statement.