Murdoch, Andrew C.

1. How do Canada's copyright laws affect you? How should existing laws be modernized?

Canada's copyright laws affect me every time I listen to music, browse the internet, watch a movie or read a book. new copyright law should focus on the rights of two parties: the artist or author, and the consumer. The artist should be able to profit from their work without fear or need of signing over their rights to their own work to another corporation, such as a record company, and any such agreement made should be legally void. For the consumer, the established right to make personal-use copies of legitimately purchased material should likewise be upheld, to the point where legislation banning the circumventing of Digital Rights Management measures should be repealed, and indeed, use of such measures by publishers should be barred as being counter to the rights of the consumer. Finally, to defend the established right of works entering the public domain, the current standard of copyright expiring 50 years after the death of an artist should be pared down to 20, which would still allow a measure of time for the artist's family to enjoy a period of returns so that they may be "taken care of", yet does not extend to many generations beyond the artists' lifetime or indefinitely prevent works from entering the public domain.

2. Based on Canadian values and interests, how should copyright changes be made in order to withstand the test of time?

By using minimal intrusion into Canadian's daily lives while giving more power to the artists and authors themselves to defend copyright, and ensuring copyright remains vested in the artist.

3. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster innovation and creativity in Canada?

Where material is not created as part of employment by a corporation, copyright should remain vested in the artist or author and should not be allowed to be divested to a third party, such as a record company, in exchange for services such as production, marketing and distribution which have nothing to do with the actual creative process. Agents for artists should be aware that they are working for artists and can be dismissed at any time, with the artists retaining full copyright of their works. In addition, lower court fees for civil suits would be of aid to those artists seeking compensation denied them, with or without the aid of an outside corporation.

4. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster competition and investment in Canada?

Enshrine in law that, unless under existing contract, copyright of a new work or idea rests with the creator and cannot be bargained away to a corporation simply in exchange for "getting it made", such as with television and film production in some cases. Such deals with larger sources of production funds should only be allowed to cover the split of recouped funds between the source of the funding and the creator, and not allow discussion of ownership of the idea or concept.

5. What kinds of changes would best position Canada as a leader in the global, digital economy?

The easier you can make it for Canadians to use their legitimately-purchased material, by being able to switch between formats and devices as effortlessly as possible, the more likely Canadians are to make such purchases.

Andrew C. Murdoch