Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
Menu
When search suggestions are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
Search
Quick Links
  • News
  • Sports
  • Radio
  • Music
  • Listen Live
  • TV
  • Watch
    • news
    • Top Stories
    • Local
    • Climate
    • World
    • Canada
    • Politics
    • Indigenous
    • Opinion
    • The National
    • Business
    • Health
    • Entertainment
    • Science
    • CBC News Investigates
    • Go Public
    • About CBC News
    • Being Black in Canada
      Copyright law changes could leave consumers vulnerable | CBC News Loaded
      News

      Copyright law changes could leave consumers vulnerable

      Changes to copyright laws expected as early as next month, could alter the way Canadians listen to music or tape their television programs — unless the Conservative government expands "fair use" protections for consumers.

      Social Sharing

      The Canadian Press · Posted: Jan 11, 2007 9:40 AM EST | Last Updated: January 11, 2007

      Ever recorded a television show or a movie so you can watch it later? Or ripped a CD so you can listen to it on your MP3 player?

      With changes to Canada's copyright laws expected as early as next month, these mundane 21st century activities could theoretically be open to prosecution — unless the Conservative government steps in with expanded "fair use" or "fair dealing" protections for consumers.

      Close observers of the file say all signs point to a new regime that will improve safeguards for major music, film and media companies and artists for unpaid use of their material, but neglect to make exemptions for personal use of copyrighted content.

      'About as market interventionist as you can get'

      "We're dealing with an industry minister [Maxime Bernier] that's tried to extricate government from the telecom area with a very strong deregulatory focus," said Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa.

      "Yet the kind of copyright reform that is being contemplated is about as market interventionist as you can get."

      Amendments to the Copyright Act are fraught with problems, since there are so many players with contradictory views.

      Exacerbating the situation is intense pressure from the United States, where Canada is considered a rogue when it comes to copyright and intellectual property. It still hasn't ratified a 1997 World Intellectual Property Organization copyright treaty.

      Sources say the new legislation is ready, but Bernier and Heritage Minister Bev Oda are struggling on final wording. Two of the most controversial issues are called digital rights management and the closely related technological protection measures.

      'People just assume it's free'

      Graham Henderson of the Canadian Recording Industry Association, one of Canada's top lobbyists for stiffer copyright controls, notes that a variety of digital services have taken off in the United States and started to make up a large percentage of music revenues.

      "In Canada, that's not happening and it's not happening because we have a culture here where people just assume it's free," said Henderson.

      "It's a big black market effect and so instead of 25 per cent [of the market], it's eight per cent here. People are simply abandoning the marketplace altogether, and they've made the decision they'll just download the music and worry about how the artist gets paid later."

      Exemptions for consumers urged

      But what does this mean for the consumer who legitimately buys a song or a film, and wants to use it on several different devices?

      Consumer advocates, such as Ottawa-based lawyer Howard Knopf, are urging the government to protect Canadians with wide exemptions in the Copyright Act for "fair use."

      As well, a group of Canadian musicians, including the Barenaked Ladies and Broken Social Scene, have come out against the technological protection measures, arguing they actually stifle creativity and their relationship with consumers.

      CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
      Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|

      Related Stories

      • Copyright and the web
      • CRIA wants tougher internet piracy law in Canada

      Footer Links

      My Account

      • Profile
      • CBC Gem
      • Newsletters
      • About CBC Accounts

      Connect with CBC

      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • YouTube
      • Instagram
      • Mobile
      • RSS
      • Podcasts

      Contact CBC

      • Submit Feedback
      • Help Centre

      Audience Relations, CBC
      P.O. Box 500 Station A
      Toronto, ON
      Canada, M5W 1E6

      Toll-free (Canada only):
      1-866-306-4636

      About CBC

      • Corporate Info
      • Sitemap
      • Reuse & Permission
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy
      • Jobs
      • Our Unions
      • Independent Producers
      • Political Ads Registry
      • AdChoices

      Services

      • Ombudsman
      • Corrections and Clarifications
      • Public Appearances
      • Commercial Services
      • CBC Shop
      • Doing Business with Us
      • Renting Facilities
      • Radio Canada International

      Accessibility

      It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges.

      Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem.

      • About CBC Accessibility
      • Accessibility Feedback
      • ©2023 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights reserved.
      • Visitez Radio-Canada.ca

      now