Artists tell committee they want content ‘widely distributed, not locked up’

Content creators and advocates told the legislative committee on Bill C-32 Tuesday that a “lock and litigate” formula in the Conservative government’s copyright reform bill will curb artistic production. “Every creator wants their content to be widely distributed, not locked up,” Bill Freeman, chair of the Creators Copyright Coalition, said before the House legislative committee on Bill C-32. The Conservative government’s copyright reform legislation, Bill C-32, provides strict legal protection for digital locks, so that breaking a digital lock for consumer uses would still constitute a form of copyright infringement. Alain Pineau, national director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, told the committee Tuesday that the use of digital locks is not accessible to all creators and is not desirable for the promotion of their business. “Forty-two per cent of Canadian artists are self-employed and don’t have the resources to monitor their content online or launch complicated court cases,” he said. Hearings at the legislative committee resumed this week following the House of Commons’ holiday break. All three opposition parties say they are against the way that digital locks are protected in the bill, which raises the prospect of its amendment at the committee. Pineau said he believes the bill satisfies the needs of multinational corporations concerned with piracy, but not Canadian artists who often make a large portion of their income from the copying and distribution of their content. Freeman said that copyright legislation should be designed to encourage creators. He said he is concerned that cutting back the remuneration artists receive from the distribution royalties through fair dealing exceptions in the bill and the widespread use of digital locks could potentially lead to a creative "dead zone." “We see a bill that asks a family to buy two copies of the same CD, or to download it twice,” Freeman said. Freeman said that rather than limit the distribution of content through locks, works should continue to be licensed through copyright collectives like the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) to ensure payment. Marvin Dolgay, vice-chair of the Creators Copyright Coalition and president of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada, told the committee that, as a composer, he wants people to consume his works, but he must make money from it. “Artists need to be treated like an legitimate business sector that makes money off of the sale and distribution of their works,” he said. The committee did not discuss specific amendments to the bill Tuesday. Speculation about the bill’s fate is now mounting as political observers debate whether the Conservative government will be defeated on its 2011 federal budget, dissolving Parliament and propelling the country into a federal election. Witnesses before the committee Tuesday said artists would be better off if the bill died on the order paper than if it passed without changes. asmith@thewirereport.ca

Artists tell committee they want content ‘widely distributed, not locked up’

Broadcast | February 1, 2011

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