[Bcma-l] CMA Clip Serv: Copyright consultations launch in Vancouver
bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca
bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca
Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:20:01 -0700
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns=3D"http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang=3D"en" lang=3D"en">=
<head>
<title></title>
<meta http-equiv=3D"content-type" content=3D"text/html;charset=3Dutf-8"/>
<meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Style-Type" content=3D"text/css"/>
</head>
<body>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"4">
<span style=3D" font-size:16pt">
<b>Copyright consultations launch in Vancouver</b></span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"2">
<span style=3D" font-size:10pt">
CBC News, Monday, July 20, 2009</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D"2">
<span style=3D" font-size:10pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Canadians are getting a new chance to say what updated copyright
legislation concerning music, movies, software and other media
should look like.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
"We all know that new technologies are changing the landscape and
that Canadian copyright laws need to be updated," said Heritage
Minister James Moore in a statement on Monday marking the launch
in Vancouver of a series of public consultations — the first such
consultations since 2001.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Not only will such laws will affect the music people download and
the TV shows they watch on devices such as laptops and
smartphones, but also the materials used to educate children and
expand our knowledge base, as well as how we value creativity, said
Industry Minister Tony Clement.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
He added in a statement that the consultations will help the
government draft "new, flexible legislation" to help Canada &quo=
t;regain
its place on the cutting edge of the digital economy."</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Modern copyright legislation is essential to allowing activities such as
e-commerce, democracy and creativity to happen online, he added.</span></f=
ont>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
"What we're grappling with is how to have a law that makes sense for
today but can also be anticipatory of how things can evolve in the
future as well."</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<b><br />
</b>
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<b>Next round table in Calgary on Tuesday</b></span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
The consultations will run until Sept. 13 and will include:</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"SymbolMT">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"SymbolMT">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
• </span></font>
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Round-table discussions across the country with experts and
organizations that will be posted as audio and video online.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"SymbolMT">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"SymbolMT">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
• </span></font>
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
An online discussion forum and Twitter site.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"SymbolMT">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"SymbolMT">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
• </span></font>
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Online forms that people can use to submit detailed suggestions.</span></f=
ont>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"SymbolMT">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"SymbolMT">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
• </span></font>
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Webcast town hall meetings in Toronto and Montreal.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
The first round-table discussion on Monday in Vancouver included
academics and museum staff as well as representatives from the video
game, software, television, music, movie and magazine industries,
Moore said.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Clement added that a key theme was achieving the right balance for
authors and artists — people who enable creativity — and for
consumers.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Another round table will take place Tuesday in Calgary, followed by
others in Gatineau and Montreal next week. Some dates have not yet
been finalized, the ministers said.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
The ministers were criticized at the media conference for not
providing much information about the Vancouver round table ahead
of time. However, they said everything is very new at the moment and
more information will be forthcoming.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<b><br />
</b>
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<b>Previous bill died in 2008</b></span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Clement said that the technological landscape has already changed
since the Conservative government's previous copyright reform
legislation, Bill C-61, was introduced last year and it seemed like
public consultations were "generally something that people were
perceived as wanting last time."</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
That bill died on the order paper last year when the federal election
was called. Since then, the Conservative government has insisted it
would reintroduce legislation to amend Canada's copyright laws in
order to satisfy the country's obligations to the World Intellectual
Property Organization, which it signed on to in 1997.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Groups representing copyright holders, such as the Canadian
Recording Industry Association and the Entertainment Software
Association of Canada, praised Bill C-61, which proposed hefty fines
for people caught downloading copyrighted materials and made it
illegal for consumers to work around locks — known as digital</span>=
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
rights management — placed on CDs and other media.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Opposition parties, consumer groups and Canada's privacy
commissioner criticized the bill as one-sided in favour of copyright
holders and against consumers. The government also took heat from a
number of groups for not consulting the public before announcing the
legislation.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
Both Clement and Moore said in June they would consult Canadians
this summer before introducing an update to copyright laws in the
fall.</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
<br />
</span>
</font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
<font face=3D"Times New Roman">
<span style=3D" font-size:12pt">
---   30   ---</span></font>
</div>
<div align=3D"left">
</div>
</body>
</html>