Contentious copyright issues come out in lunch session

With the fate of proposed amendments to the Copyright Act of 1985 unsure after the Conservative Party of Canada’s recent victory at the polls, a lunchtime panel made up of law academics, rightsholder group members and a Canadian Idol judge examined the likely course of copyright reform in Canada. When asked by moderator and media technologies Jim Griffin if it was possible for content providers to regain control of how their work is used, Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association VP Susan Peacock said she hoped so. "Otherwise there’ll be less commercial content available," she warned. "You’ll be able to get my holiday snaps and my karaoke performances online, but that’s about it." While Canada is a signatory to the World Intellectual Property Office’s two international treaties on copyright and performances and phonographic recordings, University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist said Canada should avoid fashioning its copyright laws too closely on those of other jurisdictions, especially the United States. "A lot of countries are starting to say that what the US thinks is good for them is not what they think is," Geist said, pointing to Australia and the UK as two countries who are reviewing their participation in the WIPO treaties. However, Griffin noted that the aim of copyright law is to balance user and creator rights, and the emergence of digital technology does not negate the need for content producers to make a living from their work. "If the only notion is a tip-jar at the end of this, then we’re in trouble," he said. But Jake Gold, president of The Management Trust and a judge on popular talent show Canadian Idol, said that the bulk of revenues he’s generated as a manager of musical acts have come from touring, merchandise sales and other ancillary streams – not from the sale of records themselves. "In the 25 years I’ve been in this business, I’ve made 90% of my money from when my bands go on tour and play live and sell T-shirts," he said. "The whole notion that its copyright that generates these revenues is poppycock," Geist echoed. While groups representing the creators of practically any type of content that can be offered in digital form – from books to music to videogames – have drawn a line between online file-sharing and a decrease in sales, Geist said the availability of works online actually helped drive sales. "These teenagers who download are also the music industry’s number-one customer of music, and they’re also the ones showing up at the movies on Friday night," he said. Gold, meanwhile, likened peer-to-peer filesharing to CD clubs, where subscribers can get a number of CDs for a penny if they commit to buying several more at full price. Those types of arrangements were loss-leaders for his business and the bands he managed, Gold noted, but they did have non-monetary benefits such as raising a band’s profile and introducing them to a new group of listeners. "Sometimes, is just a means to an end," he said. "If you’ve been helped rather than hurt by P2P filesharing, good for you," the CMPDA’s Peacock countered. "But, that’s a decision you’ve decided to make voluntarily. I’m all for everything as long as people choose to make it available that way." When asked by Griffin as to whether or not a mutually satisfactory balance of user and creator rights was even possible, Gold opined that record companies may have to license more peer-to-peer music sharing services, similar to the deal they made with Napster after that service was dragged into court in the US. For his part, Geist expressed some optimism that Canada had already made a good start towards striking a balance with its current Copyright Act. However, he was critical of proposed amendments that would bring it more in line with legislation south of the border, such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. "I’m not smart enough to know what that magic bullet is, but I can tell you what it isn’t – it’s tougher copyright laws," he said.

Contentious copyright issues come out in lunch session

Broadcast | March 31, 2006

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us