The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) has released the results of a survey sent to all five major federal political parties that asked for their respective views on issues related to Canada’s private copying regime. The collective is using the results to offer guidance to copyright owners, including the approximately 97, 000 rights holders who have received private copying levies, in how to vote in next Tuesday’s federal election.
The CPCC received responses from four of the five political parties, with only the Conservative Party failing to participate. The responses submitted by each party are as follows:
CPCC Federal Election Survey
Question 1: Would your party maintain the private copying provisions in Part VIII of the Copyright Act, which make it legal to copy music, while providing for a levy to compensate music creators?
Bloc Québécois – The Bloc Québécois believes that the collection of royalties remains the best way to guarantee an income for copyright holders and is therefore in favour of private copying being legal while imposing levies on media
Conservative Party – No response received.
Green Party – The Green Party would uphold the private copying exemptions and remove the levy currently imposed upon blank recording medium. The current levy system introduces ambiguity in the rights of consumers and has created a legal quagmire where peer-to-peer sharing of intellectual property may be legally grounded in some cases. Removing this ambiguity by dropping the provisional exemptions would be in the interest of both consumers and artists.
Liberal Party – The Liberal Party recognizes the need for improved copyright legislation that addresses 21st century challenges. We also believe that these changes cannot be decided in isolation. That is why the Liberal Party supports holding open and transparent consultations before proposing or adopting any changes to the copyright legislation.
New Democratic Party – Jack Layton and the New Democrats were quick to condemn the Conservative’s changes to Canada’s copyright laws. New Democrats are pushing for proper legislation that will ensure artists and creators are compensated for their work while allowing consumers reasonable rights of access. Over the past two years we have urged the Conservative government to consult with stakeholders and develop relevant legislation that would protect artists, innovators and consumers in the 21st century. However, this government has completely ignored all calls to bring forward reasonable copyright legislation and regrettably this bill is worse than originally
feared.
There is no evidence of any attempt to strike a reasonable balance to protect both either artists or consumers. Instead, C-61 represents a full capitulation to the U.S. corporate lobby and does not strike a balance between the needs of artists and consumers.
Question 2: Would your party extend Part VIII to MP3 players, making it legal to copy recorded
music onto such players?
Bloc Québécois – The arrival of devices such as the IPod and other MP3 players should not limit the collection of royalties, which is why the Bloc Québécois believes that the law must be modernized to take into account new digital media.
Conservative Party – No response received.
Green Party – Format shifting from audio CDs, tapes, and vinyl records to MP3 players should be recognized as a right of the consumer within the private copying exemptions. These exemptions would allow the Canadian public to interact with cultural material in a format and medium most convenient to them. Private copying exemptions would not permit redistribution and would therefore not undermine a copyright holders ability to market and sell the recording in a new format. Re-marketing material in new formats can still attract customers who own copies of recordings in older formats through promises of convenience by not having to manually format shift the material, and in quality as the audio is remastered to best utilize the new technology.
“The Canadian Private Copying Collective believes that rights holders deserve fair compensation for the work they create, and that the best way to achieve this is through the preservation and extension of the private copying levy,” said CPCC Chair Annie Morin. “I am pleased to note that the New Democratic Party, the Bloc Québécois and the Liberal Party have all expressed support for fair compensation to rights holders. The commitment of the NDP and the Bloc to extending the private copying levy to digital audio recorders will be especially welcomed by rights holders.”
“The Green Party position, which calls for the private copying levy to be eliminated, would do irreparable damage to the rights holders we represent. Although the Conservative Party failed to respond to our survey, they have been clear, in their most recent policy statement, that they favour the elimination of the private copying levy. Moreover, in the recent legislative changes proposed by the Conservative government to the Copyright Act, fair compensation for rights holders in the new digital environment was not addressed. In the absence of a response by the Conservatives to our survey, there is no reason to believe their position has changed during this election campaign,” concluded Annie Morin.
The CPCC is the non-profit agency charged with collecting and distributing private copying royalties. Established in 1999, the CPCC is a collective of collectives that represent songwriters, composers, music publishers, recording artists, musicians and record companies.
Contact: Alison Thompson CPCC: 416 486-6832, ex. 221
