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Copyright act key to Canada's industrial strategy
Deirdre McMurdy
The Ottawa Citizen
Friday, November 16, 2007
For most Canadians, the intense behind-the-scenes wrangling and lobbying over the terms of a revised Copyright Act -- for which legislation will be tabled in the next four weeks -- is background noise at the very most.
Intellectual property is such an abstract notion, after all. And how can you possibly protect an idea or determine its ownership -- especially in the age of file sharing and internet access?
The complex answers to those questions are among the many reasons why the long-promised reform of this law has been delayed for so many years. Even Liberal governments with big, juicy majorities were unable to make it happen.
But the copyright issue -- which has been flagged as the biggest economic issue between Canada and the U.S. since the end of the softwood lumber war a year ago -- recently surfaced as a priority in the throne speech and there have been renewed efforts by the officials in both the Industry and Heritage departments to put together a bill that will be able to withstand the inevitable political pressure.
(There's also a cross-border criminal component to the pending laws that falls under the purview of Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day.)
"Our government will improve the protection of cultural and intellectual property rights in Canada, including copyright reform," the throne speech declared.
But the political pressure that's starting to build isn't only the result of a fractious minority government: U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins, who has met with Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister Josée Verner -- and their predecessors -- on the file (as well as ensuring it was raised at the trilateral leaders summit in Montebello last summer), says that "Canada is known for having the weakest copyright protection in the G8" and that the E.U. and Japan share that view as well.
As a net exporter of cultural products, the U.S. has aggressively encouraged the Tory government to toughen copyright and intellectual property rights as soon as possible. But even though Canadian Embassy staffers in Washington have made it clear to those involved that the "relationship" with the U.S. is a top of mind issue -- and that means co-operation on issues like copyright -- Mr. Wilkins says that so far he's had "positive responses, but no progress."
He adds that "no one expects the law to be identical, but hopefully it will be compatible."
That means that Canada would have to meet the three criticisms of its current copyright law put forward by the U.S. Trade Representative earlier this year in its Special 301 report, which includes implementing an international treaty signed in 1997 (WIPO), as well as incorporating some of the elements of the U.S. Digital Millenium Copyright Act.
(In October, Canada signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement along with the U.S., the E.U., Japan, South Korea, Mexico and New Zealand.)
In light of the anti-free trade rumbling in the Democrats' camp these days -- which will only be reinforced by a weakening U.S. economy -- the prospect of trade-related retaliation to copyright laggards is a real -- if implicit -- threat.
But the NDP, for one, has already flagged that it is strongly opposed to any copyright legislation that bears American fingerprints. As recently as last June, former NDP culture critic Charlie Angus attacked the "restrictive copyright regime" south of the border and made it clear that anything modeled on it would not be supported by his party.
However vigorous the ongoing debate over what is restrictive and who has what rights for how long, there's no question that a solid Copyright Act that protects intellectual property is a key part of the broader industrial strategy for Canada.
For example, when Microsoft announced in July that it's establishing a regional software development centre in Vancouver that's intended to be "a home to software developers from around the world," the company also made it clear that it expects tougher federal copyright laws will be introduced to protect the sort of intellectual property generated there -- and over 300 high-value jobs.
"Several things led us to Vancouver: a skilled work force, infrastructure, more open immigration, de-centralization of our innovation process," says Marc Seaman, national director of public affairs for Microsoft, "but none of that amounts to much without strong IP protection."
He notes the company has advocated tougher copyright laws and implementation of WIPO in Canada for years.
(Unlike many scientific innovations, which are protected by patent law, software is usually protected by copyright to avoid publishing the code in which it is written.)
Strong intellectual property rights have also played a key role in the University of Waterloo's ability to attract top talent from around the world to its research facilities.
Tom Corr, associate vice-president of commercialization, explains that any student who makes an invention or an innovation gets to retain 100 per cent of the intellectual property rights "and owes nothing more to the university."
If the university helps to arrange financing and commercialization or the establishment of a spin-off venture, only then does it ask for a 25-per-cent cut of the proceeds.
"There's no question that intellectual property and the solid ownership and protection of it is crucial to a culture of innovation," says Mr. Corr. "When we get students here and explain our policy to them, their jaws drop at the possibilities."
One of the most high-profile examples of that model is the BlackBerry technology developed by a fourth-year Waterloo student, Mike Lazaridis, who went on to found Research In Motion.
And there's been nothing remotely abstract about that success.
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Navigating the Acronyms
When it comes to the emotionally-charged topic of copyright legislation, it's perfectly possible to confuse the players even if you have the program. Here are some of the names and issues behind the acronyms to help you navigate this complex file:
WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization. A Geneva-based UN agency established in 1967 with a mandate to promote protection of intellectual property. In 1996, treaties were drafted to develop a template for electronic commerce with specific benefits for the music industry. Canada ratified the treaty in 1997, but has not yet implemented it; it is under pressure from the U.S. to do so.
IP: Intellectual property.
IIPA: International Intellectual Property Association. A private-sector coalition of seven trade associations formed in 1984 to represent U.S. copyright protection around the world.
ACTA: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. A multilateral initiative to crack down on pirated and counterfeited goods and to protect the intellectual property rights of artists, creators, inventors and investors.
USTR: U.S. Trade Representative. Has placed Canada on its Special 301 list, targeting us for copyright reform and fuelling fears of possible trade retaliation if we don't move on it.
CRIA: Canadian Recording Industry Association. Represents the five biggest music companies and 45,000 jobs. An aggressive advocate of WIPO implementation, stronger copyright protection and higher fees to offset revenue lost to music file-sharing.
MPPA: Motion Picture Association of America. Represents the Big Six movie studios and advocates stronger copyright protection and action against piracy and counterfeiting.
CIRPA: Canadian Independent Record Production Association. Advances interests of independent national recording artists.
RIAA: Recording Industry Association of America. Represents the labels and distributors of 90 per cent of the recorded music in the U.S.
IFPI: International Federation of Phonographic Industry: Represents the recording sector worldwide.
SOCAN: Society of Composers, Authors, Music Publishers of Canada.
CMCC: Canadian Music Creators Coalition. Artists and musicians who believe the Big Labels don't represent their interests. They want "made-in-Canada" copyright reform and have broken away from the CRIA.
CMPA: Canadian Music Publishers Association. Advocates Copyright Act reform and the private copying tariff.
MMF: Music Managers Association. A forum for professional managers and an advocate for their interests.
CIPPIC: Canadian Internet and Public Interest Clinic.
AF of M: American Federation of Musicians. Union of American and Canadian musicians that negotiates agreements and benefits, and protects ownership of recorded music.
ADISQ: Association Québécois de l'Industrie du Disque, du Spectacle, et de la Video.
AVLA: Audio-Visual Licensing Association: Members own or control copyright in over 95 per cent of the sound recordings and music videos produced and/or distributed in Canada. Oversees licensing for public or commercial use.
CCMA: Canadian Country Music Association.
UMAC: Urban Music Association of Canada.
CMRRA: Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency:
Licensing agency that represents music publishers in Canada, issuing licenses to users of the reproduction right in copyrighted music in films, tv programs and other audio-visual productions.
CMPA: Canadian Music Publishers Association. Advocates for music publishers on copyright reforms, Canadian content policies, public investment songwriting, music publishing.
MIAC: Music Industries Association of Canada. A trade group representing Canadian manufacturers, distributors and retailers of instruments, accessories and published music.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2007
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