Canadian PM backs music industry
p2pnet.net News:- Canada’s new prime minister Paul Martin appears to have thrown his weight behind the corporate international music industry in its grim, no-holds-barred attempts to gain total control of how music is distributed online.
During a surprise visit to the the Juno music awards in Edmonton, last night, Martin promised he’ll back the Big Five record labels.
“We are not going to let an industry that is so important to this country, so important to our ability to tell our stories and sing our songs to the rest of the world, be jeopardized,” Martin is quoted as saying in an Edmonton Journal story here.
Canadian federal heritage minister Helene Scherrer, who was also on hand to schmooze the Canadian music’s industry’s finest at its glitziest show of the year, said she, too, will get behind Big Music.
“As minister of Canadian Heritage, I will, as quickly as possible, make changes to our copyright law,” said Scherrer in an Edmonton Sun story here.
Their comments follow the surprise defeat suffered by the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association), owned by the Big Five record companies, when a Canadian Federal court ruled Canadians can continue to share music online over p2p networks.
“Let’s understand something – the Canadian music industry is the second most important music industry in the world.,” said Martin in the Journal report. “It’s an important part of our sovereignty and an important part of our economy.”
Martin “wouldn’t be specific about what the government plans to do, saying he doesn’t want to jeopardize a likely appeal” but noted a Commons committee on copyright is looking into the issue, adds the story.
The Sun story also had Holger Peterson, president of Stony Plain Records, saying:
“It means so much to everybody in this room.”
But Canadian Idol winner Ryan Malcolm “expressed skepticism, and suggested the Canadian music biz find a way to live with file-sharers,” the story says, adding:
“Whether people download or not, as long as they’re listening to music. I think it’s a challenge for the industry, to try and find a new way to survive.”
April 4th, 2004 at 3:00 am
and so it begins….
Canadian politicians can be bought just as easily as Americans, if the liberal government under Chretien is any indicator, they can probably be coerced even easier.
<shudders at the future, hopes enough people step up when it counts>
April 4th, 2004 at 3:00 am
save canadian music, pffft. maybe they could start by making some that actually does get d/l on a massive degree.
I hardly can envision anyone furiously d/ling the latest Celine Dion tragedy….
April 4th, 2004 at 3:00 am
Paul Martin is all about big business, just think about Canadian Steam lines, the shipping company he owned (but still prob bitches his son out to do his bidding anyways) and how many contracts they were awarded while he was at the helm (hehehe)
Anyway, it doesn’t look good for basic civil liberties and the term sharing in general if this corrupt politician has his way.
Who the hell switches political parties like that anyways? Someone who goes where it best for him thats who, not someone who ascribes to a political ideology and embraces it for the good of his country or constituency.
April 4th, 2004 at 3:00 am
Say a prayer for ‘Fair Use’…I suspect it will be under assault very soon.
On that note, if fair use is compromised it will be interesting to see if the blank-media tariffs we’re subjected to are revisited – i.e. lowered, abolished. After-all, the premise of the judges decision was the ‘personal copy’ arguement coupled with the photocopying influence.
Will we soon see libraries, schools etc under a similar duress due to the imminent restructuring of copyright laws?
April 4th, 2004 at 3:00 am
In the next election vote anything but liberal, kick this sorry PM to the curb before things get out of hand. It’d be nice to get rid of the liberal dictatorship we’ve been suffering under as well
April 4th, 2004 at 5:59 am
If you vote conservative things will be even worse. The leader of the conservative party used to be the leader of the radical reform party. He’s a lot more to the right than Martin.
I don’t like Martin either though, but the NDP doesn’t stand a chance of being elected. So basically we’re screwed. Fuck you , Martin.
April 4th, 2004 at 6:29 am
This is great news! We have Justice von Finckenstein backing p2pers over big business, George Emerson writing for the Report on Business magazine supporting p2p, and now it has become a political issue with an election upcoming. Fantastic!!!
Copyright rules need reform. We already pay for the downloads, but the CRIA doesn’t deserve to hog the levy. We need to tell our politicians to refine the law so that the Copyright board pays the levy TO THE ORIGINAL ARTISTS: give them back their due respect, whether they are musicians, writers, software creators, TV Shows, movie makers–whomever. Let the downloaders decide what is worth downloading, and divy up the levy accordingly.
Pay the fees based on the measuring what is being downloaded from A CANADIAN ISP to a CANADIAN entitiy.
April 4th, 2004 at 6:41 am
CRIA is already asking for 10% of ISPs revenue in addition to everything thing else they leech currently.
The greed never ends, and it won’t end here.
They have the audacity to want both the blank-media levies to stay in place (even rise) and the 10% charge to ISPs, plus sue people, plus your soul (unless you’re an artist already, then they got that already, using one of their faustian-like contracts.)
Comments like Valentis (I paraphrase)
When questioned re fair use, Valenti replied
“Personal back-ups? If consumers want backup copies then they can go buy another copy from the store”
the audacity is scary, and I fear we’ll be hearing similar things north of the 49th in the near future. And one of the worst thing is that it’ll be a Canadian lawyer with an American business exec’s arm rammed up his ass,
save canadian music my ass…in reality they only wish to perserve a perverse profit margin
no marked drop in price on CDs in 15 years, factor and input prices dropped, proceesses became refined and more efficient, technology was advanced, all contributing to a lower manufactyuring cost. Yet no correlating drop in retain price. Profit margins soared, did the profit reaped by the artist soar in unison? No.
These are the people that will try the hardest to influence the way copyright policy goes, and in the end the only people who will benefit will be them, not the artists nor the consumer.
April 4th, 2004 at 6:53 am
this is all about CRIA trying to save Canadian music…think again, this is american interests using CRIA as a puppet to stop joey from downloading Lil Kims latest single not d’ling Farwell to Kings by Rush, or Chantel Kervazciuks (ahhh who the hell knows how to spell that) latest album, Bare Naked ladies…well maybe but it’s only the idiotic americans that seem to like them, so go hassle your own people….
p2p might actually help Canadian music, promote it globally, actually do something for the artist, which is a hell of a lot more than CRIA has ever done.
members of CRIA: did you enjoy that fat split of your share on levies? what it barely paid for your pizza? ohhhhh, you haven’t gotten it yet….
April 4th, 2004 at 7:00 am
I agree–you’ve described the current state if maintained. What I think is so brilliant about Finckenstein’s decision is that he has implied–filesharing is legal, you copyright holders are getting paid what we think is reasonable amout, so now you figure out how to divy up the funds.
If they can prove what content that the top-filesharers with Canadian IP’s are serving up, those copyrightholders deserve a slice of the pie (proven by the sales of CD’s hard drives, DVD’s, etc). ALL the copyright holders need to get on the bandwagon for their fair share. Hey
So the basics are in place: storage of stuff determines the pie: filesharers determine who eats.
We all know a new competitive business model is needed for the Internet–Finckenstein has shown the way. We get to lobby this election, and Finckenstein has said we can do it in the light, and not from under a rock.
April 4th, 2004 at 8:13 am
Be wary of any proposed changes to Canadian copyright law, which in reality will be orchestrated by foreign corporations using CRIA as they’re puppet. Their only concern will be whats best for their oligopoly, not whats best for Canadians. We as Canadians should decide our laws policies and legislation, certainly not multi-national corporations, or American politicians or anyone who isn’t Canadian. And when I say Canadian, I mean as individuals and/or communities, not as corporate interests or entities.
Now is a time we can differentiate ourselves from the rest of the fodder, stand up as a nation against foriegn influence on how we govern ourselves. We pride ourselves in our differences with Americans, let’s not go down the same foolish road named DMCA.
Don’t let this slip by like the US to wake up one morning and finally appreciate the rights we enjoy, only because they’re gone.
April 4th, 2004 at 9:48 am
What a coward. Least Cretien had the balls to stand up to Americans when it counted.
We have an opportunity to pave the way for the rest of the world and show them how file sharing and compensating the rights holder can be done. That it is possible and achievable.
Didn’t one of his cronies explain to him why the CRIA lost? Doesn’t he care that it was their own doing? That “make available” isn’t in our copyright act and that the CRIA tried arguing it should be in this case? that they didn’t even prove the “files” shared were copyrighted material?
As a Lawyer he should be ashamed of his fellow bar members. What law school did they go to?
So they want to throw away everything we’ve acheived because the bullies lost this time? *bangs head on table repeatedly*
It scares me that these companies have this much clout. This knee jerk reaction isn’t going to help any of us and I am terrified that we will end up in the same boat the americans are in, with another DMCA. (You know there is/was a Russian who is being detained in california because of some programming he did in russia? He cant go home because of the DMCA. Because the Americans want to sue him for violating something or other. How is that possible? How can an Act do this to someone ???? More info there: http://www.macfergus.com/niels/dmca/cia.html)
%^$#*@!!!!!!!! I’m so mad I want to rip someone heart out.
PS: If they remove our “fair use” rights, I want them to remove that damn levy on recording media. Was supposed to be an exchange. If that isn’t going to happen, I’ll go to the USA for my CDR’s etc cause I refuse to compensate the big five. I refuse to be the only scape goat for the industries losses.
April 4th, 2004 at 3:20 pm
Some info on Scherrer:
http://www.capacoa.ca/news/news-links/2004-01/01.html
“The newly appointed Minister of Culture and Heritage, first-time cabinet minister Hélène Chalifour Scherrer, knows little about the Canadian arts industry.”
<cut>
“According to Colleen Blake of the Shaw Festival, Scherrer and colleagues asserted their belief that only large arts groups have the ability to improve Canada’s international profile by touring abroad.”
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040119/COG19/TPNational/Columnists
<cut>
“Her successor as Heritage Minister, Hélène Scherrer, is undoubtedly an energetic person, too; so much so that she was the first Liberal MP to plunge the knife into Mr. Chrétien’s back and publicly call for his resignation — which precisely seems to be the main reason why she was chosen to be part of Paul Martin’s cabinet.”
<cut>
“A reporter asked her what was her favourite cultural activity. “Sports,” she replied bluntly.
<cut>
more on the lady:
http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=000995
April 4th, 2004 at 8:29 pm
I can’t believe that she’d make such a comment that goes so far against what canadians want, this only laments to me that the people are no longer at the helm of this wonderful country. I wrote her using the feedback forum on her website and made my opinions known, we really need to counter this threat. I encourage all Canadians to make thier voice heard and let your local representative know how you feel, as well as the Heritage Ministers office. Many thanks to the people that run this website and all websites related to freedoms and liberties, your job is a hugely important one, even if you don’t consider it a job!
April 4th, 2004 at 9:07 pm
amen brother, as the post above re protect our soveriegnty says,
“Now is a time we can differentiate ourselves from the rest of the fodder, stand up as a nation against foriegn influence on how we govern ourselves. We pride ourselves in our differences with Americans, let’s not go down the same foolish road named DMCA.
Don’t let this slip by like the US to wake up one morning and finally appreciate the rights we enjoy, only because they’re gone.”
we have to be vigilant now instead of remorseful in hindsight.
April 4th, 2004 at 11:48 pm
from the globe and mail article:
“Before running for the Liberal Party in the riding of Louis-Hébert, Ms. Scherrer worked briefly as a social worker and later was involved in city politics in the middle-class Quebec suburb of Sillery…”
What in the hell does a social worker know about intellectual property rights?
April 4th, 2004 at 11:59 pm
How come when you post as anonymous here it labels you as an anonymous coward although I cant seem to find an email to anyone or contact at p2pnet….
Id like to speak to someone regarding a project!
April 5th, 2004 at 2:56 am
Attention big wigs of the Music Industry!!! The only way to survive is to come up with a network just like Napster where it is FREE and legal to file share and the Ad Bannars support the artists we Download and share daily. Until then the music industry will continue to fall till Inde labels rule. After all Inde artists are what creativity is all about. When Album Oriented Rock died so did music sales. And the consummer is not to blame. And for God’s sake stop pushing Rap music down the white mans throat. We all know that because of the Earth Wind and Fire incident on MTV is why we are oppressed by Rap and non talented artists. Bring back the real music and you will bring back the real money simple and to the point. And don’t tell me that Ad-Supportive p2p won’t pay the bills for the artists. It certainly has made Kazaa loads of money. If you can’t beat them join them.
April 5th, 2004 at 2:49 pm
Hi:
This is at the bottom of every page: – p2pnet(at)p2pnet(dot)net:
We get an incredible amount of junk mail, hence the
(at) and (dot)