Comments Submitted Online — Toronto Town Hall

Watch video clips of the event

1. What's being done by ISP's to ensure that illegal file sharing doesn't continue?
2. Toronto. Canadas Copyright Act is badly outdated. By failing to take action on copyright reform, our government has allowed a culture of piracy to thrive in Canada. Canada has the highest rate of Internet file sharing among OECD nations, according to a 2005 OECD study. We are years behind our key trading partners in modernizing our copyright laws for the digital age. As a result, the proliferation of online file sharing – and its impacts – are far greater here. Canada is alone among virtually all developed nations in passing laws that are consistent with the 1996 WIPO Treaties, to which it is a signatory. This is urgent: Canadas trading partners are far ahead of us on this path. Those countries are starting to reap the rewards of online innovation and greater consumer choice, with numerous innovative new digital music models. In Canada, by contrast, the choice effectively remains limited to iTunes or illegal.
3. Toronto – Copyright owners who do not want their works (songs) freely shared have that right. How are their rights and privacy protected?
4. Plagiarism is viewed in our schools as unacceptable, why isn't copyright infringement?
5. Toronto.When files are swapped on p2p sites, the right of the creators to be paid for the work is taken away as a result of uncontrolled file sharing.Under the current law, there is not clarity about what is and isn't acceptable for Canadian consumers on the web. In the absence of clear laws/rules,Canadian businesses are less willing to develop and support creative new digital distribution models because they don''t have the confidence that they can earn a return on their investment.For example, in Canada,there is a dearth of legitimate digital film and music services compared to the U.S. and Europe.In Canada,we watch as other territories launched innovative digital services in the past year.What launched in Canada? Nothing.The upcoming copyright reforms need to foster innovation in an effort to attract investment and high-paying jobs to Canada.These reforms must protect the rights of artists and other content creators in order to earn a living from their works.
6. Burlington will the new copyright law be similar to bill c61 which died on the table?
7. Toronto – I am a member of the Canadian Music Industry. I am working here on a 2 year visa from Australia. I was floored when I found out that copyright laws are not in place in Canada. How can this be in such a forward thinking, cultured nation? It is embarrassing for the Canadian Music Industry, and if I may say your government.
8. Not only do Canadians as a people miss out on discovering and enjoying a plethora of wonderful music from other places due to international artist not wanting to release here, but colleagues from other countries are also bewildered by the fact that the Canadian Government clearly does not care that they are being laughed at by others around the world!
9. Joel, Fredericton: C-61 tried to make technologies illegal and provide specific exemptions. Rather, copyright law should make the act of infringement illegal and stay neutral on specific technologies.
10. I work in Canada's music industry. People like me support Canadian music by helping to create, promote, and sell it. I am worried about losing my job because unauthorized file sharing erodes legitimate sales. Canadas Copyright Act needs to be reformed. In the absence of modern copyright rules, rampant file sharing in Canada has undermined the ability of creators and the creative industries to earn a living from their work. With mass unauthorised downloading, legitimate sales of digital goods such as movies, music and software have been gravely eroded. The Copyright Act must provide clear, predictable and fair rules to allow Canadians to derive benefits from their creations. The upcoming Copyright Act reforms should balance the rights of those who hold copyright with the needs of users to access copyright works. Canada is years behind its trading partners in reforming copyright laws for the digital age. This is about jobs, it is about careers. We are asking for you to do the same as in Europe and the US.
11. Toronto. DRM gives publishers control of works that goes way beyond what copyright itself allows. Copyright protection should not be afforded to DRM that does this.
12. Toronto: Restrictive copyright is not the answer. Many university, college and high school students turn to the internet to find content they seek because its simply not available from providers online. With restrictive copyright we might as well go back to the stone ages. Information sharing is essential to education and to Canadian's alike.
13. Joel, Fredericton: WIPO ratification does not reuqire an American-style DMCA. When our government is drafting our new copyright law, the American DMCA and the old Bill C-61 should be viewed as two ways to get copyright done wrong.
14. Toronto. I have worked as a teacher, at an independent record label, a music promotion company, and an international Major label. Canadas current Copyright Act has stifled the development of a healthy digital economy (for various mediums), allowed illegal and immoral file-sharing ecosystems to flourish, and negatively affected our precious creative community. Legislative reform is needed to not only meet our international obligations to WIPO, but to also go beyond those terms to ensure that Canada is seen as a digital leader and unflinchingly supportive of our cultural resources.
15. Patricia -T.O – I am a recording industry employee. Through my work, I contribute to Canadian culture, support Canadian artists, earn a living and pay taxes. I am worried about my future because todays copyright laws offer so little protection. The failure to modernize the Copyright Act is costing jobs and undermining Canadian culture. Music sales in Canada, the artist and industry careers they support, and the broader cultural and economic benefits they deliver, are in freefall because of unchecked Internet piracy. By not taking action, our government has allowed a culture of piracy to thrive in Canada. Many people have lost jobs. Established musicians see their careers in ruins. Musicians cant get their careers off the ground because everyone just takes their music. These are all taxpayers, and voters. I am demanding, for my sake and for the sake of artists, that the government to catch up, and do what has already been done elsewhere in Europe and the US, where copyright laws were modernized years ago.
16. Toronto: The numbers tell a story about the impact of online piracy on Canadas creative industries, including my own industry – music. Faced with unprecedented competition from free music on the internet, retail sales of music in Canada have declined by more than half since 1999. Canadas digital music market underperforms and now appears to be settling at a much lower level – 17% of total sales vs. 37% in the US in 2008. The story is much the same in software – for example, a 2008 Nielsen Interactive Entertainment study on entertainment software piracy found that proportionately twice as many Canadians acknowledged having acquired pirated games compared with U.S. respondents (34% to 17%). More than double the proportion of Canadian gamers had acquired pirated games over the previous year (18% vs. 8% in the U.S.). In business software – Canadas PC software piracy rate was 32% in 2008, while losses to the Canadian economy due to software piracy reached $1.2 billion, according to a DSA-IDC Global Soft
17. Inna from Toronto. I work for Warner Music Canada and feel that in order for the Music industry as well as Canadian culture to flourish this bill needs to be passed. As a proud Canadian I feel ashamed that our Developed country was placed on a black list and grouped with countries that do not thrive on innovation and investment. As Canadians we feel that we are on a leveled playing field in society but in reality there are many areas that we are unable to expand, this is one of the major areas. If we dont take action and pass this bill maybe not today but down the road when our Canadian talent slips away to other countries and our children are brought up with no hope for Arts, please tell me what kind of future will the next generation have?
18. [Toronto] How will Canada ensure that copyright legislation and policy will foster and protect a culture of innovation and fairness for all Canadians vs. punitive and anti-creative laws such as the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act
19. Michael from Toronto: This forum is a farce, I would be interested to know how many corporations got all their employees to register for town hall attendance. A town hall of 300 should not have this many empty seats!
20. Toronto. It's alarming that some people feel that they should not compensate music artists for their creativity and talents. We do need copyright reform to ensure that artists and authors can continue to create the works that we enjoy.
21. Toronto There are a tremendous amount of pre-conceived myths surrounding copyright reform, many of which have been perpetuated by those who wish to justify something which they know is wrong. Intellectual property should only be free when the creator of it wishes it to be so. End users who are simply arguing from a standpoint of wanting to keep music, movies, and similar media free so they don't have to shell out any cash have no say on this issue. It is the equivalent of asking criminal if he would like to be punished or allowed to continue to commit crimes.
22. As a DJ I disagree with the lack of digital services available in Canada for professional DJs.
23. Vancouver – One of the problems with the current copyright scheme is the multiplication of tariffs from different copyright collectives for different uses. It's important that when we are talking about licensing for non-profit use to remember that we are talking about organizations who are not trying to monetize their use of copyrighted works. As the number of tariffs increases, the ability of non-profit groups such as campus and community radio stations to use copyrighted works starts to move outside of their financial reach. Caps are needed to limit the cost of licenses. Part of the problem is that the Copyright Board considers the validity of each new tariff in isolation from other tariffs. So while each individual tariff might seem valid, the sum of all tariffs in total can cause a significant financial burden. The Copyright Board needs to consider the entire copyright regime when it looks at tariffs, not individual tariffs in isolation.
24. Cry me a river Warner Music Canada…
25. Toronto. In the absence of clear rules, businesses here are less willing to develop and support creative
26. Toronto – Why are the only interests represented in this town hall record label execs, IP lawyers, and label signed musicians? Where is the public representation?
27. Joel, Fredericton: This town hall seems to be reflecting heavily on what American industry wants, unfortunately there has been little representation on the other side. Regardless of whether this is intentional or coincidental, this makes the town hall seem more like a forum for American industry to speak than a true consultation.
28. Stephanie – Toronto I have worked in the music industry for over 15 years and have had to scrape by at times just to pay the bills. Music is my passion and I am appalled at the attitudes of the general public in devauling the creations of their fellow Canadians. The general consumer seems to think that they are entitled to these works for free, this is equalivent to stealing and there is no justification for theft regardless of how you spin it. We should stand up for our fellow Canadians and protect their works the same way we already do for many other people who work hard to make a living. It's time to modernize our copyright laws in Canada immediately.
29. I was very keen to watch and participate online in this "public" consultation. I'm writing to say that I'm disconnecting from this town hall in disgust. The room is so blatantly stacked with proponents of the recording industry that it is a shame and a disgrace for the government to be calling this a public consultation.
30. From Brampton: Can someone please explain what the recordable media levy is for, since the recording industries say that burning songs from the internet is illegal, and since making a backup copy of content we already own is already enshrined in law?
31. Toronto: What's wrong with getting paid for work you have done? That is presumably what each professor, innovator, and even P2P downloader strives for in his/her professional day-to-day life, to be paid for work he or she does. That is all artists are asking for in copyright protection, to be paid for work they have done. Again, the goal is not to block innovation, but only to be paid fairly for work done.
32. I would like to invite our government to follow commentary on this event in real-time using the #copycon hashtag on Twitter.
33. Toronto – My name is Brent and i have worked the Canadian music industry for 21 years and have enjoyed the highs and most recently faced the challenges of the last 1o years as all have in our industry. I work with artists and managers every day and see the desperation some face in making a living. I hope that we can look to some of the other countries that have faced the same challenges but taken actions to help these creative talents prosper and continue to show the world the talent that we have within our borders. Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts and hopefully your immediate attention to the issues.
34. Neil from Toronto: I am a parent of 3 young boys. The greatest gift I can give them is good values…to know right from wrong. How should I respond to their question as to why taking a candy bar from a convenience store is plain stealing and wrong but downloading a song from an illegal P2P site is not stealing. Isn't this issue as basic and simple as that??
35. Toronto – Piracy is morally wrong -- the Canadian government needs to send this message to all Canadians. Our government is suppose to be there to protect all its citizens … therefore a just copywrite law needs to be enforced to protect the Canadian resources such as our Artists and Singer/Songwriters and to protect the jobs in the music and movie industries. We are taxpayers and voters and we need to be heard
36. The average annual income of independent writers in Canada has decline by 65% over the past thirty years – consider what that actually means for individuals, and for cultural creation in Canada. We need copyright reform which directly supports original creators. We need effective choice around how we monitize our works.
37. Toronto – Why gives this guy the right to distributes some one else's work for free? This is exactly why we need stronger copyright laws. Why would any creator want to creat cultural assets when this man is allowed to distribute without any liability? We Canadians should be ashamed of this man being a Canadian.
38. Freedom of speech is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and enforced by the courts of Canada. Why then is the freedom of original creation also not protected at the same level
39. (Amanda, Toronto) The sustainability of Canadian culture, in all its forms, is reliant on our capacity as a country to share that which we have cultivated with future generations. Analog media, lost quality with replication and therefore required heavy protection. However, we now live in an age where replication, duplication, and transition of format (especially within the realm of digital media) allow for the opportunity to transmit information of a significantly higher calibre. This gives us a huge advantage but instead of taking action, weve adopted apathy instead.
40. Calgary – My name is Garnet Thomas, and in these conferences I have seen many people make the argument that when people download copyrighted media, the artists behind it make less money. The fact is, that simply isn't true. Study after study has shown that the people who downlaod the most copyrighted media also purchase the most media. By enforcing copyright through DRM, people are more likely to download copyrighted media, so that they don't have to endure the restrictions DRM forces. Enforcing copyright through lawsuits, as in the US, is equally harmful to copyright in the end, as it makes people less willing to support the companies that could come after them next. The best way to support the people who create copyrighted works is through levees on all recordable media, including those in portable devices. While some feel that they shouldn't have to pay if they don't download music, the situation really is analogous to public healthcare. Everyone pays so that everyone is safe, it doesn't work otherwise.
41. TPM and DRM have both been shown unworkable and are being abandoned by the industries that first pushed them. This is the wrong time to try and put the use of such technologies into law. Laws created at this time in history must have a time limit or future review process included.
42. Calgary, DRM and TPM are technologies that are being abandoned by the industries – Canada cannot place the use of such technologies into law. If any technology use is put into law, it must have a time limit or time review process.
43. Calgary, The demonizing of P2P that I see being done by "artists" is largely driven by American interests. The American model does not work. Please to not copy paste American law, failing laws, into Canadian law. Warner is not a Canadian company, let us be honest. Stop listening to American subsidiaries. Listen to your citizens. Not American special interests.
44. Calgary, Many have talked about the loss of business in artistic communities. Then automatically blame that on computer technology. Demonizing it. The fact is that there is a large economic downturn in the entire economy, please compare the average loss of business in all industries. Then do proper research on the true effect of computer technology. Do not automatically assume that the reason for the downturn is the PC. All Canadians are hurting. Make laws to protect artists – yes. Do not make laws to help American corporations sue individual Canadians.
45. I am wondering if copyright law will look into images found on websites. Rob (Librarian) London
46. Oakville, Lets be realistic, art has and always will exist copyright or not, what lax copyright threatens is the media industry that has been destroying our culture with its mass produced dribble
47. Toronto. I think we can learn from the US on the suing of individuals who steal music. The IP's should be held accountable and compensate artists
48. Toronto – John Robbie – Not only are artists suffering, so are the music retailers … where's A&A Music, Sam The Record Man … the list goes on. Copyright supports artists and retails … supports the Canadian economy. Free costs jobs !!!!
49. Toronto. The Canadian digital economic ecosystem is one of the weakest in the developed world. We need to provide strong copyright protection so that new business models will feel confident to establish a presence here and offer Canadians choices in digital consumption.
50. Toronto – As author Cory Doctorow said, "Bits will never get harder to copy". Canada must embrace change, embrace copying, sharing, remixing and creating while exploring new avenues for ensuring artists have the opportunity to earn a living. Continued attempts to restrict copying will only make children and grandmother's criminals.
51. Any Copyright Act will be written in legislative language. Is there some way the government could commit to funding for copyright education in Canada when a new law is proposed and passed? This will help all who use, create and distribute content
52. Calgary: I am a Cdn Visual Artist. I am not associated with the music industry nor do I work in digital media. Despite this, changes to the copyright law could have significant impact on my work.In particular, I am concerned that the ability to make social commentary through the use of appropriation will be made illegal if this is not protected under a new law. As an example, many of the works of Andy Warhol would not be permitted if this ability is not protected. I understand the concern of many artists and copyright holders about compenstion for the use of their work. Works that incorporate appropriation, however, do not compete with the appropriated material, nor does the value of the work of art derive from the value of its subject. Works that include appropriation communicate new thoughts and ideas in order to share them with those who interact with the artwork. While not all artists use appropriation, it is inconceivable that in Canada we would advocate restricting or banning these forms of expression.
53. From Orangeville, Ontario. My name is Darryl Neudorf. Much of the confusion regarding the future of copyright has to deal with how to monetize what was once a physical product and is now living in the non-physical realms of cyberspace. I believe that there is a solution to the dilemma that involves monetizing p2p downloading rather than demonizing it. So, in the perspective of creating a bill that withstands the test of time, I would like to quote Google CEO Eric Schmidt "…let's give credit to the people who foresaw the internet, opened it up, designed it in a way that it did not have significant choke points, made it be possible for random people, including 24 year olds in a dorm, enter and create something new." I would submit that we should heed the words of the internet''s greatest success story, and build legislation that fits into the round hole of the internet rather than fights it. Thank you for listening.
54. Halifax NS The artist has should have the right to see how their music is distributed not the lable.
55. Toronto – I would like to reiterate the importance of allowing format changes, in particular for individuals with disabilities (not just students). Also, I'd like to know if I buy a copy of a movie for ex. will I be allowed to change the format to watch it on my iPod?
56. Toronto. As a member of the film and television industry, I'm concerned about throttling by internet service providers with regards to peer to peer file sharing. While I'm gravely concerned about the mass piracy of my work, I'm also concerned that the throttling of internet technologies will impede the only form of distribution for independent film – the internet. Will there be a fair compromise so that my work will be protected but still able to use online methods of distribution from my home ISP?
57. Doreen Pendgracs, Matlock, MB I sincerely hope that the findings of these consults are adhered to. Several years ago, a colleague and I made a presentation to the Senate Committee that was investigating convergence of media ownership. It seems that nothing positive resulted from the results of those consults. We said then, and I will say now, as a freelance writer, I need to be paid for each and every use of my work. Media moguls such as Canwest think it is fair that they pay writers a meagre fee of $250 or slightly more for a full page travel article with pics that they will in turn run in any of their newspapers that they see fit. Can this possibly be fair? I think and know … not. Please ensure that publishers treat creators fairly and that our work is not widely distributed without fair compensation to the creator.
58. James from Oakville – I keep hearing that file sharing is damaging sales, but where is the proof of this? Much is downloaded but would people have consumed that media if it hadn't been free in the first place?
59. Peterborough. How do people give their art the attention it deserves to make it the best it can be, if they're working far too hard at part time jobs they need to take on to keep their lives afloat? Does this inspire creativity, or stagnate it? Thats not necessarily a rhetorical question, but I believe more income needs to come in to artists, the digital realm definitely holds part of the key. A little bit goes a long way
60. A balanced response is needed for online media distribution that allows content developers to get compensated for their work, but also caters to the realities of Canadians. One of the greatest things about the internet is the fact that all content is easily accessible and widely distributed. Canadians have recognized the great benefits of such a decentralized distributive model. A monetization scheme – and there are models for such schemes out there – needs to be put in place that will preserve this amazing distribution model, and at the same time ensures that artists receive compensation. The government needs to take the lead in this by installing a moentization scheme of some sort, perhaps similar to the private copy tarrif. Thank you.
61. Toronto – In response to the young man's comment regarding file sharing and his remark that he is from a generation of copying, this is exactly why we require copyright laws. This young man does not know the hardwork that an artist, creator, puts into their work. It is up to the creator to decide whether he/she wishes to disseminates their work for free. No one else should decide that. If we allow unlimited file sharing, we are not incentivizing creators to create.
62. At this very moment, within the length of time this town hall has discussed copyright reform, thousands have downloaded a song, a full album or even a full movie that they can watch or listen to. They have no intention of purchasing anything further, whether its going to a store to buy a cd, or to the local video store to purchase a blu-ray copy of the movie. Instead, they just want what they want and want it now. The funny thing is, these individuals wouldnt know what in fact they wanted to download if it wasnt for the marketing and publicity funds companies allocate as an investment to bring these artists, movies to the forefront of our minds. The only people making money are the internet providers, who are clearly aware what people are downloading, otherwise why would they have multi-tiered pricing for various monthly downloading allotments
63. Toronto: If the Clinton administration passed legislation recommended in its "Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure" white paper, it would essentially criminalize the vast majority of digital content users. The Canadian public wants assurances that whatever direction copyright laws go, we won't have an approach where citizens are made an example of. Cultural norms have changed, and we should change with it.
64. Montreal – The Public Lending Right today delivers $10,000,000 in payments to over 16,000 Canadian authors. The issue statistics of Public Libraries are analysed and the $10,000,000 pie is apportioned to each applicant. The amount given out might be very small but the principle is sound. The UK distributes almost 5 times the amount per author. The same principle can be used to fund authors, musicians, video artists and so on by analysing downloads instead of annual issue statistics. Invest in the jewels of our society called Public Libraries and administer the fund distribution from there.
65. Craig from Toronto: I think there's a simple question here: what are the rights of Canadian citizens? In Canada, we don't even have the kind of Fair Use protection for criticism, parody and research that our American friends take for granted. So why should we endure the erosion of what little rights Canadian citizens already have, and the demolition of the public domain to go along with it? Yes, Canadians value their artists, and value their works tremendously. But they also value the rights that they're entitled to as Canadian citizens. And they don't want to see grandmothers and teenagers sued into poverty, or sent to jail, in order to protect the industry's business models.
66. Richmond Hill. Currently the length of time it takes to obtain permissions for musical or movie works prevents many uses in the classroom environment. What will the government include in the forthcoming legislation to help educational institutions obtain the required permissions to use works legally in the classroom in a timely manner?
67. Toronto. Copyright law is so complex and unintuitive that it is very hard for anyone to follow it. Copyright reform should simplify the regime and make it acceptable to users and creators. Too bad this Town Hall seems to reflect mostly one perspective.
68. The non-profit, volunteer-based campus and community radio sector is one place where you can hear emerging artists on the airwaves. But with the multiplication of tariffs from different copyright collectives and different uses (radio, streaming, podcasting, archiving), these non-profit stations are having problems paying to broadcast these artists using new technologies. The sector is trying to give exposure to emerging artists and doesn't have the revenue available to pay as much to tariffs as big commercial broadcasters – its harder to sell ads on a station playing smaller/unknown artists. But they can't keep up with all the tariffs, some sort of caps are needed. In this case, the copyright tariff system is then not helping emerging artists get the exposure they need to become more successful and get the royalties they deserve.
69. As a Canadian who values how Canada is viewed on the world stage, I am appalled that Canada was recently placed on the US Piracy List. Along with countries such as China, India, Russia, Canada has been identified as a country that does not sufficiently protect copyrighted material from widespread piracy. We require strong copyright laws to protect not only Canadian intellectual property but the intellectual property of our international partners. If we do not adequately protect intellectual property, how do we expect foreign businesses to invest and do business in Canada. The continued inaction of our government has allowed a culture of piracy to thrive. File sharing, ripping & burning music is now the norm. We need a copyright regime to show our youths that creativity is a valued asset and not something that can be just borrowed, ripped or burned for free. I implore the Canadian government to protect our cultural assets by implementing copyright that values such assets.
70. Thunder Bay. The Canadian Freelance Union is a newly-formed group of independent media workers. Our very existence depends on our ability to get paid for the works we produce. Any expansion of Fair Dealing will impact us negatively. As independent creators we also face an increasingly difficult business climate where our former partners: the publishers, broadcasters and producers, are extracting more and more rights from us, and paying less and less. We need reforms that will strengthen our ability to negotiate fair deals for our copyrights. Make some economic rights non-transferable, and remove the right to waive Moral Rights. These are just some ways an amended Copyright Act could support those who actually create.
71. From Brampton: Distributors use DRM to police users, but DRM software often installs itself without the user's permission, does not provide a way to uninstall itself when the protected content is removed, can leave consumers vulnerable to system crashes and viruses, and even can control how many times a person can install or use content he has legally purchased. In addition, if the content provider goes out of business, the content becomes useless. What protection will the bill offer consumers from overzealous DRM?
72. Joel, Fredericton: Users of Linux operating systems are excluded from watching DVDs on their computers, and are further prevented from legally breaking the inefficient encryption to use their legally purchased materials. The coming copyright law needs to ensure that all people are entitled to have full access to legally purchased materials, and be allowed to break any digital locks if the distributors refuse to provide ways for content to work using our chosen format, on our chosen device.
73. Burlington How will the new copyright legislation balance the needs of the creators and the needs of the research community?
74. Toronto – I just can't get my head around the fact that this issue has been drawn out for so long. Are we a Canadian cliche, wherein we just don't value our worth? Other coutnries are leading the charge on this and have numerous success stories with copyright reform – for the artist, consumer and business partners. This government should be ashamed at letting this slide for so long. Once again, Canadians just not sticking up for themselves or their worth. (MA).
75. Toronto: University of Toronto Press is Canadas oldest and largest publisher of scholarly books and journals and publishes over 165 titles annually. The model for scholarly publishers relies upon a combination of world renowned authors, the ability to sell books to niche markets and government support. Clear copyright legislation that reflects the digital age is required now. We hope the legislation continues to foster the creativity of authors such as Marshall McLuhan by giving rights holders the right to monetize their content if they so choose. Failure to do so will not only stifle creativity, it will put the livelihood of a great many Canadians at risk.
76. Toronto, Ontario: Independent Research has clearly shown (in economic terms) a cycle of creative destruction in the IP industries. The old system and model of IP is obsolete as it relates to the digital revolution. We need to provide new revenue streams for our creative talent, and monetizing the peer to peer networks is a great part of the solution to this problem. Will the government put forth an understanding of the process of Creative Destruction, stop looking at other countries who do not have a complete understanding of this process and how it relates to IP, and put forth a true Canadian approach that will allow our creative talent to emerge far ahead in the global marketplace?
77. Toronto: When will our government recognize that this is a not only a intellectual property issue but also a jobs issue? I work in the music industry but I am an average Canadian citizen not a monolith corporation taht some would have you believe are the only ones concerned with this issue. I work hard, I pays taxes, want the best for my family and spend money in my community and I am tired of seeing people I know lose their jobs, companies that I have worked with have to close their doors while my government sits passively by and lets it happen. In this time of corporate bail outs etc. We, employees of the industry but more impotantly citizens of Canada are looking for nothing further than protection from theft, plain and simple.
78. Jason From Toronto: Independent Research has clearly shown (in economic terms) a cycle of creative destruction in the IP industries. The old system and model of IP is obsolete as it relates to the digital revolution. We need to provide new revenue streams for our creative talent, and monetizing the peer to peer networks is a great part of the solution to this problem. Will the government put forth an understanding of the process of Creative Destruction, stop looking at other countries who do not have a complete understanding of this process and how it relates to IP, and put forth a true Canadian approach that will allow our creative talent to emerge far ahead in the global marketplace?
79. Toronto – With regards search engines that tracks and indexes infringing copyrighted materials, such as Pirate Bay or Isohunt, I strongly believe that a cohesive Canadian copyright regime must address such sites. These sites should be held liable as they are aiding and abetting copyright infringement. In the physical world, we would hold such individuals, if they were driving the getaway car in a robery, liable. Thus, we should do the same in the digital world.
80. Toronto – As a musician and a commerical user of music, Canada requires a legitimate marketplace for the consumption of music. Many online music providers such Amazon, Rhapsody are fearful of bringing their services to Canada due to the lack of a copyright regime. How can they compete with free? Future copyright laws must create rules and regulations to foster a legitimate market place.
81. Craig from Toronto: Many popular and profitable works, including the ones that built the Walt Disney company into the empire we see today, are based on creative adaptation of works in the public domain. Snow White, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin- all based on public domain works. Where will the next Disney come from when we are breaking down the rich, vibrant public domain that he took for granted?
82. Calgary: I am a Cdn Visual Artist. I am not associated with the music industry nor do I work in digital media. Despite this, changes to the copyright law could have significant impact on my work.In particular, I am concerned that the ability to make social commentary through the use of appropriation will be made illegal if this is not protected under a new law. As an example, many of the works of Andy Warhol would not be permitted if this ability is not protected. I understand the concern of many artists and copyright holders about compenstion for the use of their work. Works that incorporate appropriation, however, do not compete with the appropriated material, nor does the value of the work of art derive from the value of its subject. Works that include appropriation communicate new thoughts and ideas in order to share them with those who interact with the artwork. While not all artists use appropriation, it is inconceivable that in Canada we would advocate restricting or banning these forms of expression