Gerhard, David

I am excited that the Government of Canada has decided to consult the public on copyright modernization. This is critical because although the big media owners will probably end up being the loudest voice on copyright reform, it is the citizens of Canada that will be affected if an unbalanced and ineffectual copyright reform happens. There are three primary things to keep in mind when considering copyright reform:

1. The DMCA failed at striking a balance between content creator rights and content consumer rights. The Safe Harbour clause means, in effect, that anyone can demand that anything be removed from any website for any reason. Although individuals can challenge take-down notices, this rarely happens since sites like YouTube have incorporated this take-down policy into its software. This undermines the single greatest feature of the internet, that of continuous and increasing access to the media and information of our age.
2. Digital locks do not prevent piracy. This has been shown again and again. Determined pirates will always be able to get around them. The entirety of their effect is to inconvenience content purchasers and make it difficult, impossible, or illegal to exercise our fair dealings rights on the media we own. It makes simple things like audio cables theoretically illegal, since they can be used to break a digital lock (by playing on one machine and recording on another), they make media all but inaccessible to people with disabilities, and they allow media producers to create new laws about content just by placing a lock on that content.
3. The argument that "Artists won't create unless they can be reimbursed for their work," or that copyright protection is required for creators to make new content, is fallacious. Artists make art for expression, not for profit, and many modern artists have learned from and embraced the new reality of online file sharing. Musicians make money at concerts. Record labels make money from selling CDs. Independent musicians and movie-makers are making more new and original content than ever before. Record labels are losing money not because people are "stealing" CD sales from them, but because people don't want to buy the music they are selling.

Because of these three facts, the Government of Canada should be very cautious about adding restrictions on the use of digital media, whether copyrighted or not. Copyright laws exist and will continue to protect creators without the need for additional restrictions on the technology that makes copying possible. Legal restrictions on technology that *might* be used to violate copyright only serves to restrict fair dealing and interfere with content-consumer's legal rights.

David Gerhard, Associate Professor Computer Science, University of Regina