Appeared in the Toronto Star on January 16, 2006 as Who Speaks For The Public?
The mushrooming controversy over Toronto MP Sarmite Bulte's coming Thursday night fundraiser hosted by the entertainment lobby is a powerful illustration of the public's growing interest in copyright issues as well as the emerging influence of Internet weblogs or blogs. The incident has opened the door to a new public discussion of the links between lobbying, campaign contributions, elected officials and the making of copyright law and policy that promises to continue well beyond next Monday's election..
The Bulte controversy has highlighted the close connection between Canada' s Parliamentary Secretary for Canadian Heritage and the largely U.S.-backed copyright lobby with many copyright groups contributing hundreds of dollars exclusively to the Parkdale-High Park MP. Beyond the Bulte story, lobbyist registration records, campaign finance returns, and documents newly obtained under the Access to Information Act reveal a process that is badly skewed toward lobby interests and in serious need of reform.
Industry Canada' s Lobbyist Registration Database includes dozens of registered lobbyists for copyright interests. For example, the Canadian Recording Industry Association currently has five registered lobbyists on its payroll, while Access Copyright' s similarly sized contingent of five registered lobbyists even includes former MP Paul Bonwick, a Bulte contributor who worked closely with her on a 2004 copyright report while both served on the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
Financial contributions to political parties and MPs are commonplace, which helps to explain Canadian Motion Pictures Distributors Association President Douglas Frith' s response to the furor over the Bulte fundraiser. Frith argued that the process was balanced by virtue of his organization' s financial support for both Liberal and Conservative candidates.
According to Elections Canada, in the decade from 1993 to 2003, CRIA provided campaign contributions to the Liberal party in every year with the exception of 2001. While during many years only modest amounts were donated, by far the largest contribution was made in 1998, which came immediately after the passage of copyright reform. That reform bill included the establishment of the private copying levy that has since generated more than $140 million in revenue for the industry and artists.
While the impact of lobbyists occasionally comes into public view through the presence of MPs at industry-sponsored events, most of it is evident only behind closed doors.
Greater access to Ministers and government officials is certainly one of the most important consequences. A March 2002 letter from then CRIA President Brian Robertson to newly appointed Industry Minister Allan Rock, obtained under the Access to Information Act, provides a classic illustration of this phenomenon.
The CRIA letter congratulates Rock on his new position and urges him to support ratification of the World Intellectual Property Organization' s Internet treaties. Rock is advised that CRIA has enjoyed a very productive dialogue with Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps “persuasive enough to have the Minister of Heritage publicly state…that it was now the government' s intention to ratify the Treaties.”
The copyright lobby has also proven successful in obtaining greater representation before parliamentary committees as well as in securing meetings with government officials. During Bulte' s tenure as chair of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in 2004, the committee was perceived to be decidedly pro-copyright lobby with panels stacked against user interests.
That perception is borne out by internal government documents which verify that Bulte shot down a proposal to allow Industry Committee MPs, who are generally perceived to provide a technology-focused balance to the debate, to attend copyright hearings. Bulte's terse response indicated that "the chair of the heritage committee is not open to the suggestion of inviting industry committee members."
The copyright lobby also meets regularly with government officials. A document obtained under the Access to Information Act titled “List of meetings between Canadian Heritage' s Copyright Policy Branch and its stakeholders in copyright reform” indicates that in the nearly thirteen months between April 1, 2004 and April 25, 2005, government and policy officials from that department met or held teleconferences 15 times with Access Copyright, 14 times with music collectives, seven times with CRIA, and five times with publisher associations. Meanwhile, the document lists only one meeting with education groups, two meetings with public interest groups, and two meetings with technology groups.
In fact, the close connection between the copyright lobby and government can even extend to contracts. Last year, the Canadian Publishers' Council, whose executive director is one of the hosts of the Bulte fundraiser, obtained a $20,000 contract for a “copyright awareness initiative” whose goal was to develop an Internet-based social awareness campaign to “engage young people in a new conversation about copyright.”
The cumulative effect of the lobbyist influence has left many stakeholders concerned that there is little room for the interests of the public and the balanced approach supported by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Copyright policy must be both fair and seen to be fair. It is time for a new approach that starts with a commitment from all MPs who accept funds from the copyright lobby not to serve in Ministerial positions or on legislative committees that involve copyright policy.
Over the past few days, hundreds of Canadians have signed a petition calling on all politicians to make just such a commitment. The final week of the election campaign provides the ideal opportunity for Canada' s leaders to begin to clean up Canadian copyright.
Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can reached at mgeist@uottawa.ca or online at www.michaelgeist.ca.
