Politicians Rally Behind Canadian Music Biz

Canada's top politicians have come forward to support the domestic music industry in its fight against online copyright infringement.

The Federal Court of Canada in Ottwawa denied a motion March 31 from labels body the Canadian Recording Industry Assn. (CRIA) that Canadian Internet service providers (ISPs) be forced to reveal the identities of alleged uploaders of digital music. The trade body filed an appeal against the decision by Justice Konrad von Finckenstein April 13.

Prime Minister Paul Martin and Minister of Canadian Heritage Hélène Scherrer both pledged to protect Canada's music industry April 2 at the opening reception of the annual Juno Awards in Edmonton, Alberta.

"We are not going to let an industry that is so important to this country, so important to our ability to tell our stories and sing our songs, be jeopardized," Martin vowed.

Scherrer has since been meeting with music-industry associations, artists and songwriters to discuss the issue.

CRIA president Brian Robertson says the political support is "encouraging." He adds, "The government has now got the message on how inadequate the copyright laws are."

WORLDWIDE IMPACT

Robertson says the CRIA's appeal of the ruling is important for all Canadian copyright owners. "Any owner of intellectual property that can be digitally transmitted has a stake in this appeal process," he says.

Denise Donlon, president of Sony Music Canada, says, "Since the Federal Court decision, the international community has looked at Canada as a pariah nation in terms of our inability to keep the Copyright Act up to date."

Canada's music industry has been impatient with the slow pace of the Liberal government's copyright agenda.

The CRIA is one of 26 industry bodies pressuring the government to ratify two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties that were signed in 1997. The Performances and Phonogram Treaty and the Copyright Treaty both address copyright protection in the digital age.

Bernie Finkelstein, president of Toronto-based True North Records, is hopeful that the Federal Court decision may have galvanized the government to finally ratify the WIPO agreements. "I'm expecting to see something done within the next three months," he says. "As far as I'm concerned, they made a promise."

But Brian Chater, president of the Canadian Independent Record Production Assn., is skeptical. "I will believe it when I see it. However, this is a step in the right direction."

If the Federal Court had approved the CRIA's motion, it would have allowed the body to begin suing individuals who make music available online (Billboard, April 10). The Federal Court ruled that five named ISPs could not be forced to reveal the names and addresses of 29 users who had allegedly shared a "high volume" of songs in November and December 2003.

In his ruling, Justice von Finckenstein said the CRIA did not prove there was copyright infringement by the alleged music uploaders. He also ruled that downloading a song or making files available for sharing does not constitute copyright infringement under current Canadian law.

Robertson says, "The court decision has brought forward loud and clear through to the government that you cannot have interpretation of the Copyright Act. You must have firm guidelines and updated laws to deal with online use."

Michael McCarty, president of EMI Music Publishing Canada, argues that even more legislation is needed. "Even if we ratify the WIPO treaties, we still won't have an up-to-date Copyright Act," he says. "Things are changing so rapidly."