Canada May Lose Copyright Fair-Use Rights

DotNM writes with an article from the CBC reporting that the Canadian government is considering removing fair-use rights from Canada's copyright law. From the article: "Exacerbating the situation is intense pressure from the United States, where Canada is considered a rogue when it comes to copyright and intellectual property. It still hasn't ratified a 1997 World Intellectual Property Organization copyright treaty... Two of the most controversial issues are [DRM] and the closely related technological protection measures."

Taxes

[Anonymous Coward]

Will it get rid of the damn taxes on CD's?

Contact info

[phorm]

How about some contact info for those interesting in writing the powers that be about this issue?

Re:what?

[RealGrouchy]

You mean, "levy-paid-to-RIAA-on-all-blank-media-regardless-o f-use" Canada? Are we talking about the same country?

s/RIAA/CPCC [www.cpcc.ca], but yes.

Actually, I recall a Canadian [Supreme?] court case that said that this blank media levy effectively makes music-downloading legal. They can't claim that the "artists" (nudge nudge) aren't getting paid, because they are, through the levy.

The really evil thing is how the exception [cpcc.ca] to the levy works. Some types of groups (follow link for full list) are excempted from the levy paid to the CPCC.

However in order to be exempt from paying a levy to the CPCC, you have to fill out an application and pay an "administrative fee" to the CPCC ($60 for commercial users, $15 for non-commercial).

Methinks that musicians don't see a whole lot of this, however, following that court case and before this law is passed (hopefully it won't be, or it will be similarly struck down), this levy is the CCCP's (did I just say that?) achilles heel.

- RG>

I just wrote this letter to my MP

[acidrain]

And I would like to ask all Canadian citizens reading this to do the same. ------------- It is easy to overlook the erosion of our rights when faced with more pressing social issues, but I would like to ask you for a minute of your time to consider the implications of a change that the Conservative government is planning to make to Canadian copyright law. I'm writing you as a professional software engineer who is concerned about the planned extension of Canadian copyright into what is called "Digital Rights Management." As a person who makes a living producing work which is protected under copyright, you may find it ironic that I am opposed to this legislation. One reason for this is that in reality DRM effectively creates a monopoly environment which locks out creative individuals who are not in the employ of large corporations, and empowers those corporations to engage in anti-competitive activities. It does this by forever binding the use of things rightfully purchased to the day to day wishes of these corporations. Including limiting their use to devices and software who's producers have a financial obligation to the controlling corporation. I see no reason why our government should pass laws to protect the interests of these large foreign interests, at the expense of the rights and freedoms of Canadian citizens. The very citizens whom you were elected to represent.

Re:Fight..

[Have Brain Will Rent]

Actually Canada does/did send Mounties out on peacekeeping mission - to Haiti for example.

Re:Fight.. my letter

[saskboy]

I wrote one last year, but here's a new more topical version people can use and modify:
My letter:

Dear Mr. Breitkreuz,

I'm writing concerning this story in the media cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/01/11/copyright-canad a.html

If the Conservative government makes it a crime to put CD music onto iPod MP3 players, the government will be a laughingstock in the eyes of music consumers. Canadians in Yorkton-Melville regard the gun registry as an unenforceable, and intrusive law that makes criminals out of law abiding long gun owners. In the same way, removing Fair Use from Canadian copyright law will make criminals out of ordinary, law abiding Canadians, and does very little to help the people the law is supposed to protect.

As with previous emails on the topic of Copyright Act revisions, I offer you my expertise if you have questions regarding the technical nature of Digital Restrictions Management, and why there is an organization of professional Canadian musicians opposed to DRM, and the removal of Fair Use.

A short reply to acknowledge you received this letter, would be appreciated.

Thank you for your time,
[Saskboy]
Yorkton resident
[phone number]
www.abandonedstuff.com

CC. Hon. Bev Oda, Hon. Maxime Bernier

Re:I just wrote this letter to my MP

[TheBig1]

I wrote mine. I have the fortune of being in Calgary SW, so I get to write to the Prime Minister himself:

Hello Mr. Harper,

This is my first time writing to you, as a new constituent in your area. I am writing in regards to an article I read today on CBC.ca. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/01/11/copy right-canada.html [www.cbc.ca], which I find troubling.

I am very concerned about the proposed new amendments to copyright law, especially the so-called Digital Rights Management. I consider this to be counter productive for consumers specifically, and society in general. While I support artists rights to ensure compensation for their works (I am in fact a musician myself), I don't agree with implementing technical enforcements of this. By definition, using technology in this way prevents even fair use of artistic works - a computer cannot judge the intent behind creating a copy of a work any more than a photocopier can.

Once we as a society lose the ability to archive and share artistic works, we have in essence lost that which makes us a society. Today we can understand in a small way the culture of our forefathers, in great part due to the great works of literature, music, and art of previous generations which we still have available to us. I fear that once we impose technology on ourselves which limits the storage of similar works today, our children and future generations will lose their glimpse of what made Canada such a great nation today.

This issue is much larger than just the music industry lobbyists pushing for tighter controls of illegal copies of songs; the threat of DRM more than outweighs the supposed loss of CD sales. This issue is about Canadian citizens selling the future of our unique culture for a short term payoff.

Thank you for listening; I would greatly appreciate a short reply to confirm that you have received this message.

[Signature]

Here's my letter to Bev Oda

[JohnKrasnay]

Dear Ms. Oda,

I currently live with my family in north Oshawa and I have been a resident of Durham Region for most of my life. As one of your constituents, I read with concern this article recently published by the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/01/11/copy right-canada.html [www.cbc.ca].

As a consumer and a content producer (I've written software professionally for the last 15 years, including a large application that I've licensed for public use and redistribution), I believe that copyright law strikes a delicate balance between the rights of content producers and society at large. Any changes to that balance must be very carefully conceived. While I obviously can't comment on the proposed changes you are currently preparing, I would like to offer some of my concerns about where copyright reform appears to be headed.

Firstly, I believe the push behind copyright reform is coming from the film and recording industries. No other stakeholders appear to have any pressing desire to reform copyright law. The software industry, in particular, realized years ago that technological copyright protection measures (euphemistically called Digital Rights Management today) were an un-winnable arms race that served only to frustrate their legitimate customers, and for the most part have stopped the practice. They seem to be happy with going after egregious copyright violators while letting their own customers create backup copies of their purchased software in peace.

Further, I do not believe that the recording industry is acting in the interest of the artists (in fact, several prominent Canadian artists have actually said as much over the last year); instead, I believe they are trying to preserve an outmoded business model (shipping information around on CDs with trucks) against the Internet, which does the same job far more efficiently. Rather than adapt to the progress of technology (for example, by looking for ways to use the Internet to expose more artists to more fans), they have chosen instead to pressure governments to enact legislation disrupting the balance of our current copyright laws. I feel such changes, especially made in haste, will disadvantage both consumers *and* artists in favour of propping up an industry that is in decline.

As a result, I feel that any changes to copyright legislation proposed by the recording industry must be viewed with a large degree of scepticism, and that changes, if any, must be made carefully and with the full consultation of the Canadian people. I would urge you in particular to steer clear of a couple of particularly misguided concepts:

1. Canada must not implement the equivalent of the "DRM anti-circumvention" clause of the American DMCA. Laws preventing open discussion of algorithms (i.e. mathematics) are perilously close to recognizing thought-crime.

2. Canada must not reduce fair-use rights, such as the right to time- and format-shift legitimately purchased content. To do so would be to criminalize ordinary Canadians for doing things they believe they have the inherent right to do.

I thank you sincerely for your time.

John Krasnay

Re:Fight..

[ceoyoyo]

We send troops on peacekeeping missions. The mounties go out as advisors to rebuild national police forces.

Re:Fight..

[Have Brain Will Rent]

ummm, no, that is usually the case but as I said Mounties were sent as part of a peacekeeping force to Haiti. There was quite a stir about it at the time.