p2p news / p2pnet: It’s worth repeating that six leading record companies have dumped the Big Four Organized Music cartel’s CRIA, as Canadian Net and copyright expert Michael Geist reported recently.

The indie labels include those representing Rush and Sarah McLachlan, "have left the Canadian Recording Industry Association over a disagreement about radio content rules and grant programs for emerging artists," says the Canadian Press on the same story.

"It has become increasingly clear over the past few months that [the] CRIA’s position on several important music industry issues are not aligned with our best interests as independent recording companies," Nettwerk Records, Aquarius Records, the Children’s Group, Linus Entertainment, Anthem Records and True North Records wrote in a letter to the association’s president Graham Henderson.

The CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association of America) is, "looking out for their best interest, and their best interest is multinationals that are not Canadian," declared Ric Arboit, president of Vancouver-based Nettwerk Records.

“We were dramatically opposed to (CRIA’s) submission,” said Bernie Finkelstein, who runs the country’s oldest independent label, True North Records, whose roster includes Bruce Cockburn, Colin Linden and Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. “We felt that there was no room for anything other than clarity.”

Geist believes the CRIA’s recent CRTC Commercial Radio Review submission may go down as one of its biggest blunders.

Owned by the Big Four Organized Music cartel, the CRIA, "wants the percentage to remain at 35 per cent, but has proposed a new calculating method where emerging artists would count more in the quota system than classic songs by superstar artists like Bryan Adams, says CP.

"As well, CRIA’s proposal recommends changes to long-standing grant programs which help fund touring by artists, producing and marketing of albums. It has also suggested the designation system for artists who record and co-write outside Canada be tweaked."

The short term consequence is the indies want the CRIA to clarify to the CRTC those artists that are produced by independent labels yet identified as CRIA artists and calculated in CRIA market share, says Geist, adding:.

"But the longer term consequences are even more important." The, "CRIA is governed by a five member board consisting of President Graham Henderson and representatives from the four major foreign labels." As [the] CRIA increasingly battles artists and collectives on private copying as well as Canadian recording labels on approaches to promote Canadian music, it will become increasingly that [the] CRIA does not speak for the Canadian music industry. It is time for policy makers and government leaders to see [the] CRIA for what it is – a copyright lobby group that represents the interests of foreign corporations.

"The impact of the CRTC submission will linger long after the radio review hearings conclude next month."

Moreover, as Canadian copyright lawyer Howard Knopf posts:

"The CRIA has fizzled and failed in its litigation campaign against Canadian file sharers and “infringers” (i.e. music lovers and customers) and P2P “weapons of mass distribution”, e.g. KaZaA. It badly lost round one of the file sharing litigation in 2004 not only because the law was against them (the very same levy law it fought so hard for since the early 80’s) but because its evidence was so woefully inadequate. It was hearsay interspersed with fatal gaps. CRIA blamed the loss on its lawyer, Ron Dimock, who is by anybody’s measure one of Canada’s top IP litigators. He took the brief that was handed to him at the last minute by CRIA. He did as good as job as could possibly be done with the brief he was handed. I know because I opposed him.

" The CRIAs appeal to Federal Court of Appeal in 2005 was dismissed, although it tried to paint the result as a victory.

"I’ve lost count of the numerous prominent law firms and IP lawyers CRIA has retained in succession in the last couple of years on its various causes. At the rate they are going, they may soon have to call me

"The CRIA provided disingenuous, incomplete and incorrect information in testimony to a Parliamentary Committee on March 9, 2004 about the WIPO treaties."

Things are, of course, considerably easier in the US where the Big Four labels more or less have the Bush administration stitched up tight,

Their RIAA (as badly misnamed as the CRIA) is trying to sue customers into buying high-priced, low quality product and they want to be able to do the same in Canada,

Meanwhile, only one of the (C)RIAA owners is actually American, and that’s Warner. The others are the largest, France’s Vivendi Universal, Sony BMG of DRM spyware infamy, and Britain’s EMI.

Stay tuned.

Also See:
reported recently – Taking the C from CRIA, April 13, 2006
Canadian Press – Dispute prompts 6 indie labels to leave Cdn Recording Industry Association, April 12, 2006
posts – CRIA – what lies ahead?, April 14, 2006
sue customers – Patti Santangelo update, April 15, 2006

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