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Did Canadian Politicans Give In To Hollywood's Demands On Copyright Reform?
from the the-hollywood-lobby-works dept
It looks like the Canadian battle over camcording in movie theaters was merely a prelude to the main show concerning copyright reform. If you don't remember, Hollywood lobbyists made a strong show earlier this year trying to convince Canadian politicians that camcording movies was a huge problem in Canada demanding much stricter laws. The problem was that the numbers that the lobbyists were tossing out (and which many in the press repeated without question) simply weren't true. Both the threat and the current condition of Canadian laws were exaggerated. Yet, it worked. Canada did, indeed, pass a much stricter law concerning camcording in theaters, despite little evidence that it would make the slightest difference or that it was even needed.
However, the bigger prize is a broad copyright reform act in Canada -- and having successfully walked politicians down the road before, it appears those same lobbyists may have done so again. Michael Geist reports that Canada is about to announce its latest copyright reform bill and it's a dreamlist of everything that the entertainment industry desires: DMCA-like anti-circumvention laws, retaining the private copying levy, no flexible fair use/fair dealing rules, no parody exception, no time-shifting exception (out, out, damn TiVo) and many others. The details aren't out yet, so it may be a bit premature to discuss this. However, Geist tends to have good sources on these things, and he's worried that this Hollywood dream bill will get fast tracked with little opportunity for people to speak up and complain that their rights are being taken away in favor of a number of big corporations and that the types of things that encourage new innovation and content creation are actually stifled by these types of draconian laws. Therefore, it makes sense for people to at least start making some noise now to get others aware of what is possibly in this bill and make it clear to the politicians that they won't stand for such a one-sided law.
However, the bigger prize is a broad copyright reform act in Canada -- and having successfully walked politicians down the road before, it appears those same lobbyists may have done so again. Michael Geist reports that Canada is about to announce its latest copyright reform bill and it's a dreamlist of everything that the entertainment industry desires: DMCA-like anti-circumvention laws, retaining the private copying levy, no flexible fair use/fair dealing rules, no parody exception, no time-shifting exception (out, out, damn TiVo) and many others. The details aren't out yet, so it may be a bit premature to discuss this. However, Geist tends to have good sources on these things, and he's worried that this Hollywood dream bill will get fast tracked with little opportunity for people to speak up and complain that their rights are being taken away in favor of a number of big corporations and that the types of things that encourage new innovation and content creation are actually stifled by these types of draconian laws. Therefore, it makes sense for people to at least start making some noise now to get others aware of what is possibly in this bill and make it clear to the politicians that they won't stand for such a one-sided law.
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Who cares if Canucks lose their rights?
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A different view
If the party is biased, it gives you a heads-up that the convenient numbers that align perfectly with their argument may be inaccurate. For that source to be free from bias, but still give inaccurate numbers, there is no warning.
Oh, and Dirk Belligerent, I especially liked the post about the bank intern busted by facebook. Cheers.
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Coppyright lobbyists seem to be winning a lot of e
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off topic (sorry people)
So if you are already paying for your health care wouldn't it be nice to get it with out extra fee's on top of it all with a system for profit?
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o' Canada
-CBC or Canadian Broadcast Corporation is a government owned tv and radio media organization much like the BBC is in the UK.
-Canada has no protection for the freedom of speech.
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Analogous to AA
When a member starts to falter anywhere along the way, response of the sponsor and group is typically: "You need more of it!" The failures I have witnessed are spectacular The media companies are doing the exact same thing. Treating customers like crap isn't working, so obviously the companies are not treating enough people badly enough!
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jeez...
might as well change the name of the country while they're at it; Iran, Myanmar...those sound more appropriate.
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Re: o' Canada
Really? Hmmm. What is all that stuff about "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication" in Section Two of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
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^you got me on that one
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Can't have you cake and eat it too.
So... we can't copy anything... but still have to pay the levy for copying?
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Getting active in Canada.
Note: Canadian law isn't going to loose copyright exceptions for parody -- we simply never had them. The reality is that there are many ways that Canadian law is already far "stronger" (in favor of copyright holders) than US law, contrary to what the various industry associations commonly lie about. Heck, if the Sony Betamax case is ever tested in Canada we would likely find out that VCR's and modern variations like ViVO's are all illegal in Canada. Fortunately this hasn't been tested, and Canadians can blissfully ignore some of the nasty aspects of our already excessive copyright act.
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Re: Can't have you cake and eat it too.
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what's a story without name dropping?
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