[d@DCC] FW: [CPI-UA] New Election Poll: Two-thirds of Canadians want commitment from parties for stronger laws protecting Canadian musicians from unauthorized downloading???????

Mon Jan 2 18:58:09 EST 2006

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-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Nielson [mailto:p.nielson at shaw.ca] 
Sent: January 2, 2006 9:10 PM
To: cpi-ua at vcn.bc.ca
Cc: Manitoba Library Association News mailing list; Pa
Subject: [CPI-UA] New Election Poll: Two-thirds of Canadians want
commitment from parties for stronger laws protecting Canadian musicians
from unauthorized downloading???????

Attention News/Business Editors: 

    91 percent say the work of musicians and authors should be protected
to 

    ensure they get paid for their work

    TORONTO, Dec. 28 /CNW/ - A new national poll has found overwhelming

support among Canadians for action by federal election candidates to end

unauthorized music downloading.

    According to the POLLARA Inc. study, 91 percent of Canadians agree
that

the work of musicians, artists, composers, authors and others should be

protected by copyright to ensure that they get paid for copies of their
work.

Five percent disagree and five percent are either unsure or don't know.

    Sixty-eight percent of respondents feel that, regardless of who wins
the

election, all federal parties should commit themselves now to enacting

stronger copyright laws to prevent the work of Canadian musicians and
other

artists from being traded on Internet sites like Kazaa. Twenty percent

disagree, while 12 percent are unsure.

    "Canadians overwhelmingly understand that musicians and other
artists are

harmed by illegal file-swapping and deserve better protection under the
law,"

says CRIA President Graham Henderson. "It's time for politicians of all

stripes to speak out against theft on the Internet and to speak up about
where

they stand on this issue."

    Indeed, a majority of Canadians (55 percent) indicated they want to
hear

where the parties stand on copyright protection of music, books, films
and

other artistic works during the election. The strongest interest comes
from

voters who intend to support the NDP (67 percent) and Bloc Quebecois

(71 percent). Thirty-nine percent indicated they had no need to hear
where the

parties stand, while 6 percent are unsure.

    The study also found that fully 32 percent of Canadians are more
likely

to vote for a candidate or party that supports stronger laws protecting

Canadian musicians from unauthorized Internet file-sharing, an almost

two-to-one margin over the 17 percent of respondents who are less likely
to

support such a platform. Another 44 percent said it would make no
difference.

    "For a large number of voters, what the parties have to say now
about

protecting Canadian culture and the creative community will influence
how they

vote," says Duncan McKie, president, POLLARA. "These results are very

realistic and clearly establish the protection of Canada's copyright

industries as a notable, vote-getting issue.

    "Many Canadian musicians have become national and international
stars.

Canadians appreciate this and want to further develop homegrown musical

talent," McKie adds. "They also know that file-sharing threatens both

established and emerging artists, and they deserve and need the
protection of

international treaties on copyright."

    The influence on voting intentions was strongest among NDP and Bloc

Quebecois supporters, who are respectively 44 percent and 48 percent
more

likely to vote for a candidate or party that supports better copyright

protection for artists.

    Henderson remarks, "The NDP appears to have abandoned their
traditional

support for artists, and in doing so have presented the Liberals with a

significant opportunity to take votes away in critical ridings. Perhaps

unwittingly, the New Democrats have blundered into the libertarian,
wild-west

world inhabited by the pro-file-swapping lobby. That approach clearly
does not

reflect the mood of Canadians."

    Canada's failure to bring its copyright laws into the 21st century
has

come at considerable cost. Canada's economy has lost billions of dollars
and

there has been a dramatic erosion of respect for intellectual property.
Taken

together, this threatens the country's economic prospects in key growth

sectors. A recent independent study conducted for the Canadian Alliance

Against Software Theft (CAAST), an industry alliance of software
publishers,

found that software piracy alone cost Canada $2 billion in wage and
salary

losses and more than 32,000 jobs in 2001. The picture is equally bleak
for

Canada's music industry: the rise of file-swapping has coincided with a
40

percent -- or $525 million -- decrease in retail sales of pre-recorded
CDs and

cassettes since 1999.

    Nearly all of Canada's leading trading partners have updated their

copyright laws in recent years to accommodate modern, digital
marketplaces.

According to the POLLARA study, 74 percent of Canadians believe the
country's

laws should be made to conform to international standards and treaties
on

copyright. (Nine percent disagree, while 17 percent are undecided).

    "Canada is adrift on the digital ocean - a small, increasingly
isolated

analogue island," Henderson says. "Outdated copyright laws undermine our

ability to compete successfully in today's knowledge-based economy. The

POLLARA study demonstrates that the vast majority of Canadians support
robust

copyright protection and suggests that politicians ignore this at their
peril.

Strong, unambiguous laws are good for the marketplace and good for
creativity -

they will encourage innovation and investment."

    Survey methodology: The questions were developed by POLLARA, and the

survey was conducted by telephone from December 18th to December 20th,
2005,

among a random sample of 1204 Canadians aged 18 and over. The sampling
error

is plus or minus 2.6 percent, 19 out of 20 times.

    About the Canadian Recording Industry Association

    The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) promotes the
interests

of Canadian record companies and their partners, the artists. CRIA
represents

more than 95 per cent of all records produced and sold in Canada.

For further information: Laura Watton, Environics Communications,    

(416) 969-2766, lwatton at environicspr.com; Don Hogarth, Environics 

Communications, (416) 969-2755, dhogarth at environicspr.com

Tougher law on copyright wanted, poll finds / Kevin Restivo

Financial Post December 29, 2005

Most Canadians want the country's political parties to implement
stronger copyright laws so homegrown artists can't have their work
ripped off by Internet downloaders, a new survey suggests.

The poll, issued by the Canadian Recording Industry Association and
conducted by Pollara Inc., found 68% of respondents want tougher laws so
Canadians can't steal copies of music, movies and TV shows from American
sources, such as Grokster, Limewire and Morpheus, which provide the
software that facilitates downloading and trading of online content.

Twenty per cent of respondents disagreed while another 12% had no
opinion.

"Canadians believe we need to swim with the big fish in the U.S.," said
Graham Henderson, CRIA's president. "We are offside internationally."

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Internet file-sharing
services can be held liable when computer users trade movies and music
illegally.

The Canadian industry lost a key Federal Court ruling in May when it
tried to get Internet service providers to hand over the names of online
music traders it wanted to sue. CRIA has been pushing the federal
government to make amendments to Canada's Copyright Act that would make
file-sharing illegal.

Lawsuits issued against illegal music traders and education campaigns in
North America have helped the industry's cause by pushing more teens
toward legal sources of online music, such as Apple Computer Inc.'s
iTunes store.

The Canadian recording industry's sales have plummeted over the past six
years as people flocked to illegal music sources. According to CRIA,
retail sales of pre-recorded CDs in Canada have fallen by $525-million,
or 40%, since 1999.

The study also found 32% of Canadians are more likely to vote for a
candidate or a party that supports stronger copyright protection laws.

"That number is beyond my wildest dream," said Mr. Henderson. "I
expected between 10% and 15%. As tier two election issues go, this is
one at the forefront."

To that end, 55% of the survey respondents say they want to hear where
the political parties stand on the issue of copyright law.

Bev Oda, the Conservative Party's culture critic, said Canada should
have stronger copyright laws. "There needs to be a better balance [in
Canada] between the artist, the Internet service provider and the
consumer," she said.

The Pollara telephone survey of 1,204 people was conducted between Dec.
18 and Dec. 20 and is considered accurate to within 2.6%, 19 out of 20
times.

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