[d@DCC] Creativity and cultural policy (Was: Re: [CPI-UA] Cross

[Russell McOrmond]

On Tue, 6 Apr 2004, Kal wrote:

> I dislike the blame game.  In fact, I prefer no changes to the copyright
> act.

  I see this as playing the required politics.  Politicians are going to
listen to the "squeekiest wheel" which if we don't threaten votes is going
to be the big labels and other mega-media companies. Having met Sheila 
Copps I feel quite comfortable putting blame on her as she was quite 
closed minded to the possibility she could have made a mistake.

  If the Liberal government and specifically the new Heritage Minister
(now that Sheila may not even have a seat after the next election ;-) do
not feel pressure to do the right thing, they will do exactly what they
are told thus far is the right thing.

> It would also be nice if blank media levies went directly to artists.  I
> believe that only requires a change in the way the copyright board
> operates not a change in the act.

  Section 81 onward goes into extreme detail about how collective
societies for "eligible authors, eligible performers and eligible makers"  
(IE: includes non-artists) use collective societies to get the levy.  
These collective societies then privately decide how to distribute the
money, and I see no way for the copyright board to ensure that only
creators get this money.

  http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-42/

  If such a regime should exist at all it should be part of our cultural
policy that is easily amended under regulatory control as conditions
change, not part of our copyright act.

  There are a huge number of programs that exist to help creators as part
of our Canadian cultural policy.  Other than the lobbying efforts of the
"chicken little" mega-label recording industry, what makes music so
special it got an entire "PART VIII PRIVATE COPYING" of the copyright act?

> >   If others agree we may want to write up a FAQ and have it ready to offer
> > to media, and to even ask pointed questions at all candidates debates
> > during the upcoming election.
> 
> I've been wondering, if private downloading is legal, where are citizens
> expected to download from?

  Extremely relevant question.  I believe the Judge so far suggested that
there is no way to differentiate uploads from downloads because of this.

-- 
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/> 
 "Make it legal: don't litigate, use creative licensing" campaign.
 A modern answer to P2P: http://www.flora.ca/makelegal200403.shtml
 Canadian File-sharing Legal Information Network http://www.canfli.org/

--
For (un)subscription information, posting guidelines and
links to other related sites please see http://www.digital-copyright.ca