CanCon producers praise BTLR terms of trade recommendation

OTTAWA — The reintroduction of an agreement governing contracts involving independent producers would be vital to curbing market power of large foreign streaming giants, as well as be a boon to independent Canadian content producers, according to a panelist speaking on the closing day of the Canadian Media Producers Association’s annual Prime Time Conference. As part of its long awaited report released on Wednesday, the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review panel recommended that any future update to the Broadcasting Act give the CRTC the authority to “regulate economic relationships between media content undertakings and content producers, including terms of trade; and resolve disputes between media content undertakings.” According to Stephen Stohn, an entertainment lawyer and former executive producer of Degrassi, the reintroduction of what is known as “terms of trade” between independent producers and the over-the-top streaming services would allow for the organic growth of Canadian content. Stohn, who told conference goers that he prefers the term “code of practice” to terms of trade, said that such an agreement “is absolutely vital because in dealing -- whether its with broadcasters, but more importantly with the OTT services -- if they are allowed to actually take over the majority of the copyright, we are gonna lose all the benefits” of funding bodies like the Canadian Media Fund. If Canadian media producers don’t retain their copyright, Stohn said while using a Lord of the Rings metaphor to laughter and applause from attendees, “we’ll become like orcs, toiling in the dark pit of mordor forever enslaved to the dark lord Sauron and the behemoth OTT services around the world.” When the CRTC eliminated the terms of trade agreement between the CMPA and large broadcasters in 2015, the decision drew the ire of Canadian media producers. “What this fundamentally means is that if the commission is going to abandon safeguards to protect against the abuse of market power by vertically integrated carriers in broadcasting, then that is going to lead to a substantial diminishment of the independent production sector,” then-CMPA president Michael Hennessy said at the time. “It’s going to force almost all the remaining producers into a subservient-service production role and diminish any opportunities for having any kind of significant independent production sector in the country.” At an earlier panel, Kyle Irving, a partner at Winnipeg-based Eagle Vision, said the relationship between producers and broadcaster had become unbalanced without terms of trade. “The leverage that the broadcaster has if they believe that you require their trade in order for your show to get made, means that we’re seeing offers from broadcasters where they are paying a decimal point license fees, or offering those,” Irving said. “On top of it saying ‘this is gonna trigger however much of your financing, so we’re going to want an equity position as well. So we know that we’re the gatekeeper. We know that you can’t make the show without us, so guess what, here’s what we want.’” “That’s where the terms of trade are an essential starting point to level the playing field between broadcasters and producers, because I don’t see this trend stopping.”

CanCon producers praise BTLR terms of trade recommendation

Brief | January 31, 2020

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CanCon producers praise BTLR terms of trade recommendation

Brief | January 31, 2020

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