Moore urges parties to propose copyright amendments

OTTAWA—Heritage Minister James Moore is urging the opposition parties to come forward with proposed amendments to the government’s new copyright bill as the Tories prepare to send the bill to a special legislative committee for tinkering. “If they have ideas now they should put them down on paper,” Moore told The Wire Report on the Hill Thursday. “This is complex legislation. Language matters, and if they have some interesting ideas, bring them forward.” Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act, was tabled in the House Wednesday afternoon, and Moore confirmed that the government intends to send it to a special legislative committee, where significant amendments could be made with majority votes. Moore said the government would prefer to see the legislation passed as it is, but acknowledged that may not be realistic in a minority Parliament. “This is our best effort to get balanced and effective copyright legislation,” Moore said. “This isn’t an industry bill or a heritage bill. This is a bill for all Canadians. It crosses all sorts of policy boundaries.” Although there had been talk of a legislative committee sitting through the summer, it now appears unlikely that the committee could be struck before the summer recess. Moore pointed out that there are only about two-and-a-half weeks remaining in the House schedule. “We’d like to have the bill debated as soon as possible so that we can move forward with it, but we’re a little bit at the mercy of the House schedule,” he said. One of the major points of contention in the bill is its legal protection for “digital locks,” or the digital rights management on content and gadgets. The bill takes a strict approach to enforcement, like the Conservative government’s former Bill C-61, making it an infringement of copyright to circumvent digital locks in most consumer cases. User groups criticize the proposal because they say it overrides user exceptions in the bill. But some stakeholders in content industries—like video game developers—say the locks are necessary to their business models. The former Liberal government’s Bill C-60 in 2005—which like C-61 did not pass the House—proposed conditional anti-circumvention provisions that tied liability to the intent to infringe copyright. When asked whether he would be open to an amendment that ties liability for circumventing digital locks to the intent to infringe copyright, Moore said the parties should make proposals. “They haven’t presented us with any specific language or any specific amendments. If they have ideas they should bring them forward,” he said. That could be one area where the Conservatives are willing to compromise with the other parties. The support of one other party would allow the Tories to win majority votes at the committee and give them the power to block proposed amendments they oppose. The NDP and Bloc support extending the existing private copying levy on CDs to digital media devices to support creators, but the Conservatives are adamantly against it, calling it an “iPod tax.” The Liberals say they are still considering the proposal. Liberal MP and party industry critic Marc Garneau told The Wire Report that a legislative committee is important because it would represent the interests of both the industry and heritage committees. Garneau agreed that the legislation probably couldn’t proceed to committee before the summer recess. He said the question of how to proceed on legal protection for digital rights management remains the most significant one. The provision has to balance the interests of industry stakeholders, who want the locks protected, and the interests of consumers, he said. “I think there’s a way of doing it, and we’re going to make some proposals on that,” he said. “I’m glad to hear that Mr. Moore and Mr. Clement yesterday seemed to have language that suggests they’re ready to make some adjustments.” sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

Moore urges parties to propose copyright amendments

Broadcast | June 3, 2010

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