p2pnet news | Music:- Canadian musicians in the Songwriters’ Association of Canada (SAC) and Canadian Music Creators Coalition (CMCC) say although the Net and mobile phone networks have become major sources of music, “songwriters and performers typically receive no compensation of any kind when their music is shared or illegally downloaded”.

And it’s time to rectify the situation, the say.

“The plan we propose would not change or interfere with the way Canadians receive their music,” they say on their new site, going on:

“No one would be sued for the online sharing of songs. On the contrary, the sharing of music on Peer-to-Peer networks and similar technologies would become perfectly legal. In addition, Music Publishers and Record Labels would be fairly compensated for the crucial role they play in supporting Canadian music creators.”

The site includes space for people who, “agree with this summary of our proposal” to sign.

Here’s what their proposal proposes >>>

1. Whereas:
* An estimated 1.6 billion music files are shared online in Canada each year.
* The total number of purchased downloads in Canada was 38 million in 2005.
* The proportion between these two is 98 to 2 – 98% shared file and 2% purchased downloads.

We Therefore Believe:

Consumers have clearly demonstrated their wish to access music by file sharing.

2. Whereas:

* Virtually every song ever recorded is available through P2P file sharing 3 (more than 79 million recordings)
* Only 3 million songs are available on legal sites.

We Therefore Believe:File sharing is both a revolution in music distribution and a very positive phenomenon. The volunteer efforts of millions of music fans creates a much greater choice of repertoire for consumers while allowing songs – both new and old, well known and obscure – to be heard.

All that’s needed to fulfill this revolution in distribution is a way for Creators and rights holders to be paid.

OUR PROPOSAL

3. We propose an amendment to the Copyright Act which would establish a new right: The Right to Equitable Remuneration for Music File Sharing.

4. We define Music File Sharing as the sharing of a copy of a copyrighted musical work without motive of financial gain.

Since the new right is limited to activities that take place without motive of financial gain, parties who receive compensation for file sharing would not be covered by this right. Therefore, this new right is distinct from rights licensed by legal music sites like iTunes and PureTracks.

5. The new right would make it legal to share music between two or more parties, whether over Peer to Peer networks, wireless networks, email, CD, DVD, hard drives etc. Distinct from private copying, this new right would authorize the sharing of music with other individuals.

6. In exchange for this sharing of their work, Creators and rights holders would be entitled to receive a monthly license fee from each internet and wireless account in Canada.

7. We propose a licence fee of $5.00 per internet subscription, per month. Payment of this fee would remove the stigma of illegality from file sharing. In addition, it would represent excellent value to the consumer, since this fee would grant access to the majority of the world’s repertoire of music. Existing download subscription services generally charge considerably more than $5.00 per month, while offering a mere fraction of the file-sharing repertoire. 6

8. In addition, this would present a major financial improvement for the music industry. Since the license fee would be paid by all internet and wireless accounts, the amount of income generated annually could adequately compensate the industry for years of declining sales and lost revenues, and would dramatically enhance current legal digital music income. Sales of physical product would continue to earn substantial amounts, albeit gradually decreasing. Masters would continue to be licensed to movies and television. Radio would continue to sell advertising and pay royalties on music. 7

We believe strongly that by giving Canadian music Creators a solid business model for the 21st century, this endeavor would initiate a golden era for music in Canada. Ultimately, we see this model being adopted internationally, and we are working with Creators groups around the world to effect a global system of remuneration for the sharing of music files.

9. Existing music sites like iTunes and PureTracks would continue to be licenced directly by Creators and rights holders and would continue to develop the attractive ‘value added’ services and security features that keep them distinct from file sharing activities.

10. The collective would track internet and wireless file sharing activity on a census basis. Virtually all sharing on the internet and wireless devices would be tracked. Companies who currently do this type of tracking have prepared themselves and are ‘waiting in the wings’. Creators and rights holders will be paid with a level of speed and accuracy never before possible.

11. CANADIAN COPYRIGHT AND LEGISLATIVE ISSUES

Regarding WIPO implementation, we are not opposed to the legal protection of Technical Protection Measures (TPM) or ‘digital locks’, however we believe the obvious economic benefits of the $5.00 per month model make such protection measures obsolete. Given the consumer aversion to TPM’s, we believe their use will inhibit the success of recordings in which they are embedded, and they will simply fall out of use.

We support Rights Management Information (RMI) protection since RMIs will assist in the identification of files and the attribution of rights without posing any problems for consumers.

The Songwriters and Recording Artists of Canada are in the process of consultation with the broader music industry, as well as consumer groups and Internet Service Providers, in order to gather support both in Canada and internationally for this proposal. We look forward to discussions with all concerned to make this proposal a reality that will be of great benefit to all.

Definitely stay tuned.

Slashdot it!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 at 8:47 am and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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