Heritage committee attempt to reform copyright on quick timetable stalls

An attempt by members of Parliament in Ottawa to speed adoption of international digital copyright treaties has apparently hit a brick wall in the face of departmental disagreement. A letter written by Industry Canada minister Allan Rock indicates he’s prepared to stick with the government’s original one- to two-year timetable proposed in the fall of 2002 to make changes to the Copyright Act with respect to a new right of making available, legal protection of technological protection measures (TPMs), legal protection of rights management information, and ISP liability (CNM, Oct. 16/02). Rock’s willingness to stay the course, however, puts him in opposition to an accelerated schedule favoured by Canadian Heritage minister Sheila Copps. Rock’s letter was written in response to a motion passed by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage October 23 that called on Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage to have legislation ready by February that would put Canada in a position to ratify the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Internet treaties, to which this country is a signatory. That motion found favour with Copps. On November 6, she made a surprise appearance in front of the committee to lend her support to its desire for rapid implementation of the agreements. In her testimony, Copps reportedly said that "WIPO ratification will be the happiest day of our life," during a raucous session. Several interested parties, including the music industry, have offered to provide draft legislation that could be used as a model in time for the committee’s mid-winter deadline. Rock’s written response, delivered on the same day as Copps’ committee appearance, will likely stall any move to speed up the process. Both Heritage and Industry have responsibility for the Copyright Act and neither will be able to move unilaterally. In his letter, Rock writes: "I recognize the importance of the work that the Standing Committee will be undertaking over the coming months, as it reviews the provisions and operation of the Copyright Act. I also appreciate the Committee members’ desire to be apprised of the upcoming revisions to the Copyright Act in order to assess how this impact (sic) on the Committee’s work. As soon as possible, ministerial guidance will be sought on policy proposals that would address the WIPO treaties, as well as the other issues in the Government’s short-term agenda, as set out in the Report. Again, I wish to assure you that I am committed to making early progress on these issues." While strong copyright protection advocates are urging the quick passage of legislation on the right of making available and the protection of TPMs and digital rights management (DRM), Rock says the Canadian government must do more than draft legislation that only puts Canada in a ratification position. He notes, for instance, that issues such as ISP liability for copyright and public access must also be dealt with - something the original timetable would include. Susan Lott, a Public Interest Advocacy Centre lawyer and spokesperson for the Balanced Copyright Coalition (CNM, Sept. 26/03), cheers Rock’s reluctance to stray from the government’s charted course. "We’re wanting to find good news where we can find it," she tells Canadian NEW MEDIA. "Reading the letter, myself, I think he certainly is helpful in the sense that he reminds the committee of the need to go back to that identified list of short-term priorities that came out of the consultation paper. So he’s reminding the committee that there are a number of issues here that do need to be addressed including the issue of access and ISP liability. And he also reminds them of the intent behind the Act, which is to balance those two objectives - protection and access. So, that’s all good… "Trying to read between the lines a bit, I think he’s just trying to remind the committee again of these elements of the purpose behind the review overall." The effect of Rock’s letter putting the brakes on an accelerated process is likely also compounded by political turmoil in the nation’s capital. A new government under Prime Minister-to-be Paul Martin is set to be sworn in on December 12 and neither Rock nor Copps is expected to remain in their current portfolios - if they are retained in Cabinet at all when Martin’s team purges the Commons’ front benches of unfriendly faces. There has been no indication from either department’s bureaucracy that they have been directed to begin drafting WIPO-related reform law and the committee’s motion may well prove an exercise in smoke-blowing since a change of not one but two ministers in charge of the portfolio has the potential to further delay the process. That delay is doubtless proving frustrating to content intermediary companies such as the record labels and film distributors. During an appearance before the committee on October 30, Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television and Radio Artists lawyer Ken Thompson called the committee "courageous" for its stand in favour of implementation. "The WIPO treaties are not something new that’s just been dropped in our laps," he said. Brian Robertson, president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), says the process is proving exasperating. "I think the motion’s been valuable because it was really rather a unique call to action. It certainly got minister Copps’ attention. She came flying and reinforced what our commitment had been to this process from the start. I think it also demonstrated that Industry doesn’t seem to have the same commitment to getting these treaties ratified on the same sort of urgent timetable that Heritage has and does. That’s quite distressing, obviously, because it’s been apparent for three or four years that that’s been the problem," Robertson tells Canadian NEW MEDIA. "The whole point is that they agreed to it in 1996, for goodness’ sake, and that was seven years ago, that doing business in the digital and online environment needed new measures. That’s all the treaties do. It’s a pretty basic principle, and how on Earth they cannot buy in to that, with Industry having a whole expensive e-commerce agenda, to me, is just bewildering. They seem to me to be commissioning study after study after study - they’re still doing it - and the rest of the world is looking at Canada and saying, ‘what the hell are these fools doing?’ It’s embarassing to go to an international meeting."

Heritage committee attempt to reform copyright on quick timetable stalls

Broadcast | November 21, 2003

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Heritage committee attempt to reform copyright on quick timetable stalls

Broadcast | November 21, 2003

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