Movie, music giants seek a Canadian DMCA

By Rafael Ruffolo, Computerworld, 04/24/08

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The Canadian copyright reform debate raged on during a panel discussion on intellectual property rights Wednesday, and while members of the recording, film, and Parliament argued in support for controversial legislation, at least one industry expert said they are failing to listen to the Canadian public.

The roundtable discussion, which took place at the University of Toronto, featured speakers such as Pickering-Scarborough East MP Dan McTeague, EMI Music President Deane Cameron, and Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) President Graham Henderson, among others. Many of the speakers stressed the need for strict copyright legislation to keep the Canadian entertainment and software industries thriving.

"We need to recognize that Canada signed a treaty saying that it would implement WIPO," MP Dan McTeague said. "Canada lags behind many nations in this. It's an important debate for politicians in this country."

Other panelists, like Graham Henderson, president of the CRIA agreed: "Intellectual property rights in general are very poorly understood in Canada. We don't talk, think or write a lot about it. It's created a missing link in Canada's innovation agenda."

While copyright reform has been an on-and-off issue for the government throughout the decade, the issue was reignited after copyright reform was mentioned in the government's throne speech last October. It was at that speech that the Conservatives expressed its intention to create news laws that adopt the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) copyright treaty. The WIPO treaty, adopted in 1996, provides additional protections for copyright due to advances (at the time) in information technology, including anti-circumvention laws to require users to obey restrictions imposed by so-called technical protection measures (TPMs).

Industry Minister Jim Prentice was prepared to move ahead with a proposed bill, which was rumored to include anti-circumvention legislation for TPMs, but an unprecedented show of opposition from Canadians last December -- which included thousands of members flocking to join the Fair Copyright Facebook group -- has forced to the copyright bill to the backburner.

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