Rights of users and creators top concerns among respondents to public consultation on copyright

Balance between the rights of consumers and creators are some of the top concerns expressed by a number of parties to Industry Canada’s online consultation on copyright reform. The first two days of the public consultations, which began last Friday in Vancouver, elicited 35 formal submissions. But Michael Geist, an Internet law professor at Ottawa University, wrote on his blog that the consultation Tweeter feed showed that nearly 200 responses had been received over the course of the week. Students, hackers, ordinary consumers, professors, software developers, programmers, and writers were some of the people who posted the submissions. Russell McOrmond, a software author, is one of the respondents. He writes that he made several submissions to the public consultation carried out in 2001, and argues that the concept of copyright in Canada has been expanded to include “access rights” which presumes that rights holders, through technology, are able to determine how audiences get access to copyright material. The trend, McOrmond argues, has been on the rise since Canada showed interest in the 1996 WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). Several years later, McOrmond deplores the fact that Canada is “stuck” in the WIPO Treaties. “Copyright needs to be clarified and simplified if it is to regulate the activities of private citizens,” he writes, adding that copyright should not be abused “to dictate to audiences any aspect of their own personal technology choices.” To Gerry Obrien, another respondent, copyright legislation is all about protecting the entertainment industry and not the consumer, something, which he says should be corrected. He goes on to argue that the entertainment industry has managed to use copyright legislation to bail itself out but at the same time sells music at a much higher price. For instance, he points out that consumers are charged the same price for a song regardless of aspects such as age, number of musicians, production costs or demand. “Moreever, before you got a full spectrum recording; now you get a scaled down MP3 (which was a format never intended for wholesale distribution, nor even developed by the industry) that might be infested with Digital Rights Management and poor sound quality. But they are charging more in adjusted dollars (and subtract their distribution costs) for that Thompson Twins song they sold on vinyl 25 years ago.” Obrien goes on to call on politicians to act to save the consumer. “It would be nice if our politicians took a step back and looked at the big picture once in a while and not automatically stroke the industry PR machine by conceding they are ‘victims’ simply because they claim they are losing money.” Tims Keenan, writing from Langley BC, says that any intended copyright legislation must protect the rights of the creator but warns that the rights of the consumer must also be taken into account. “Creativity and innovation, both in the creative and technological sectors, is best fostered by a short-term copyright with generous fair-use provisions.” A new copyright regime should consider how consumers use modern technology and should not place obstacles in its path, writes Grady Booth, who adds that Canada must abolish copyright entirely to open the avenues for new creative opportunities. Furthermore, Booth points out that new copyright legislation should not criminalize private consumption of copyright material. “If I like a film, documentary, book, article, or song, I will copy it to my library. When I find that someone I know would be particularly interested in something, I will send them a copy. That is fair use, and a most valuable new technology. I already get most of my media that way, on the recommendation of friends, even if those ‘friends’ are diggers or slash dotters. What may not be fair use, people who host vast repositories of ’free’ pirated material, I have no use for anyway because I don’t go out looking for ’free’ media.” To read more of the comments, click here.

Rights of users and creators top concerns among respondents to public consultation on copyright

Broadcast | July 27, 2009

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