Artists spar on effects of downloading at minister Copps’ Ottawa copyright forum

Artists, musicians, games and software designers, and authors gathered by Canadian Heritage on the eve of the Juno Awards April 4 presented differing ideas about the role of copyright in their work and the effects on their careers of digital distribution. The forum was hosted by Canadian Heritage minister Sheila Copps as she sought input from creators in preparation for an ambitious round of Copyright Act reforms that will likely get rolling sometime in the next few weeks and continue for about four years. The sharpest divide of the afternoon was evident in the conflicting stories of musicians Jane Siberry and Laura Doyle. Doyle was quick to condemn music-sharing services such as Kazaa and Napster, saying she’d been "pushed to the brink of bankruptcy" by fans downloading her tracks. Her self-published first album, No Easy Answers, has been a popular success. But Doyle said that she’s been unable to recoup the costs of producing the album and is thus in the position of having two platters worth of new material she’s unable to record and distribute. This is despite licensing several tracks to television shows Dawson’s Creek and Strong Medicine, and films Dead Heat and Suddenly Naked.Said Doyle: "I’d just remind everyone it’s my music…It’s a relationship where something has to be given in return for what I do for a living." Siberry, who has continued to toil in the recording industry largely unnoticed by the mainstream public since several hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and who started her own record label in 1996, was skeptical. She noted that the licensing deals must have created a significant revenue stream and asked Doyle, "Can you not get a second job?", suggesting that artists should create music for the love of it. While Doyle said she’d likely continue to create music, she deplored a situation in which "the world suddenly thinks that music’s free." Copps supported Doyle, coming down clearly on the side of strong copyright protection for artists, asking "I would like to remind you that she has to eat…Why would you expect an artist to work for free?" The minister compared copyright protection on music to patent protection on drugs, arguing that payment should be made for the use of both. Copps also defended the private copying regime, noting that sales of music CDs are down by one-third in the last year but that the Canadian Private Copying Collective is collecting $29 million per year now to offset the losses. While software designer Russell McOrmond tried to push the minister and fellow forum participants on the issues of how the money is collected and how it is paid out, Copps put a quick end to the tangent. The discussion moved quickly again to music downloading as producer Jac Gautreau told the forum, "The Internet is a huge opportunity for independent musicians to reach other markets around the world…If we criminalize and eliminate downloading of songs, you’re taking a narrow view and closing down an important channel." Stephen Stohn, television producer and chair of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s copyright committee, agreed, but noted: "Things are going to go on the Internet whether they want to or not…We need to go back to the old days when we could say no to things." The Tragically Hip’s Rob Baker suggested that "kids" won’t buy records anymore but that retailers could capitalize on electronic distribution through the use of download kiosks and other means. "Why can’t the industry embrace the technology?" he asked. Stohn later agreed with Baker, suggesting that electronic distribution was "a Holy Grail. We’re not there yet." Copps responded that no one was talking about leaving the Internet but that the discussion would be around how to create a copyright regime for the digital age with support for creators. Publisher and writer Hal Niedzviecki told the forum that, unlike drugs as in Copps’ analogy, fans already feel ownership in mass culture products and warned it would be difficult to try to create impermeable walls around cultural products. Writer Susan Crean, a co-founder of the new Creative Rights Alliance (CNM, May 1/02), said the argument isn’t as black and white as user versus creator, and that the discussion must also include the role of distributors such as publishers and record labels, which often see the lion’s share of money earned from songs and other products. Referring to proposals on the table to restrict access to intellectual property by technological means, she told the forum, "We’re very often in the position of defending practices we didn’t create and that we may not agree with." She noted that European copyright protections are stronger for the individual creator compared to Canadian rights that are often assigned to distributors. Asked how she would solve the problem of digital distribution and the entailing loss of revenue, Siberry noted that she is able to continue to make music through fans’ direct support. For example, she said, fans can donate through her web site directly to offset the costs of studio time. Immediately after the forum, Copps told Canadian NEW MEDIA that the creators’ comments will help the government shape a new digital copyright regime. She added that the government is in a position to deal effectively with the various challenges despite the rapid pace of change and an increasing number of important developments in fora such as the courts and the Copyright Board of Canada. "If you look at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, for example, we were able last December to bring in legislation on retransmission rights. That was done very quickly to deal with a specific potential problem. It think that we can move quickly, but the other thing is that, obviously, if you listen to the various points around the table, it’s also clear that to create a good support for creation isn’t a process that is done overnight. When I brought in the legislation in 1997, that legislation had been tried, I think, previously by four different ministers who were not successful…We don’t expect to have a total agreement, but we want to have a broader consensus." In her interview with CNM, Copps reinforced her message expressed during the forum that some initiatives such as the private copying regime might not be perfect but that the government would forge ahead with stronger copyright protections on artistic works. "…Whether it be the creator of a television program, an artist, a singer, a radio show, you have the right to own that creation and if somebody else is going to use it, there should be a payment for it based on the rights regime," she said. "The form of the rights regime can change. I think that the point was made on the whole copying regime. Is it a perfect regime? No, it’s not. But we’re really new in this territory. The whole issue of how you deal with new technologies is kind of virgin territory…Obviously, we want artists to be able to take advantage of new technologies and we also want the rights of creators to be protected because if we didn’t actually pay the creators, you wouldn’t have the kind of celebration of music that you see this weekend, which is really what it’s all about."

Artists spar on effects of downloading at minister Copps’ Ottawa copyright forum

News | 04/16/2003 4:00 am EDT

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