Theft in a digital age
John Mellencamp predicts that the sky is falling on the music business because of the Internet (John Mellencamp Likens Internet To A-bomb – Aug. 18). What he suggests isn’t false – to a point. When the music business was centred in “Tin Pan Alley,†the focus was on sheet music and music rolls that people could buy and play on pianos at home. The phonograph changed all that. As radio came along, the music business adjusted. With the rise of digital and the Internet, music production is changing, yet again. The problem isn’t the shift to digital and the Internet. Legislative protections for copyright aren’t adequate for a digital age. One European study predicts more than a million lost jobs and $328-billion in lost revenue by 2015.
Digital piracy is responsible for the 50 per cent reduction of Canada’s music recording market. Even so, cultural industries – production, marketing, and retail – represent 3.8 per cent of Canada’s GDP. Cultural industries employ 633,200 Canadians – more than the forest products industry. The entertainment industry’s ability to remain healthy and continue to deliver content to consumers in innovative ways is dependent upon a copyright framework that both discourages massive online piracy and encourages legitimate commerce. That’s why Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act, needs to be taken seriously as a starting point for moving Canada’s copyright protections into the digital – and Internet – age.
Randy Bachman, Canadian guitarist, songwriter, performer and producer writing in the Globe & Mail’s Letters to the editor
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Randy is right! We need to modernize the Copyright laws to protect the creators in today’s digital age. Awesome letter Randy!
I agree with Randy Bachman we need modern copyright reform.
It takes a lot of courage for an artist to step forward and make his voice heard. The stats cited here are staggering, and unacceptable. Randy rightly points out that without reform, Canada’s creative industries can’t thrive. I want to live in a country that treats creators fairly and encourages innovation. Bill C-32 is a good starting point.
So why exactly do we need to give the big three greater legal protection? We have more music than ever (Soundscan reported over 100,000 new releases in 2008), a more diverse market (Tunecore alone released 90,000 songs in 2009), and sales are up (Soundscan Canada 2010). Meanwhile nations like the US and Japan (with very harsh copyright law ) are responsible for 80% of 2009′s global sales drop (according to the IFPI’s 2010 press releases).
Obviously these laws are not working, so maybe instead of imitating their failure we should be spending time thinking up new ways to succeed.
Great to see more and more artists speaking out. This bill isn’t perfect, but it’s a good start which is much overdue, and a chance for discussion into what changed need to be made.
Kent – This is about a lot more than giving “the big 3″ as you say legal protection. This is about ALL artists – major label or independent – who are tired of seeing their hard work earning money for others (ex. Torrent sites which make a small fortune on advertising and donations) while giving NOTHING back to the creators.
I couldn’t agree more. We need to protect the creators of this great music. Canada needs to make some changes to the Copyright laws before the damage done can’t be repaired. The laws need to change with the times.
As Bachman points out, the music industry has traditionally adapted to whatever demands progress made on it. Now it needs to adapt again, and government regulations (or lack thereof) are not allowing it to do that.
Creators SHOULD be fairly compensated for their creative output: how could anyone disagree with that?
I’m very glad that a veteran artist is speaking out in support of the copyright bill.
Agreed – We need to do a better job rewarding content creators.
Agreed. We need to modernize our copyright laws so they adequately address our current technological state. As Mr. Bachman states, this isn’t the first time technology has changed how music (or other content) is distributed, and it certainly won’t be the last. However, the key is to ensure content creators can make a living selling their works and can continue create content. Equally important, it’s important that Canada has modernized laws to adequately protect our cultural sector, which employ tens of thousands of Canadians.
As always Randy speaks with eloquence and grace. Copyright reform is not an easy issue, nor a popular issue to understand. He says, “The entertainment industry’s ability to remain healthy and continue to deliver content to consumers in innovative ways is dependent upon a copyright framework that both discourages massive online piracy and encourages legitimate commerce.” This statement is very true. We need to reform and modernize our Canadian copyright laws to ensure artists and content owners can flourish.