Access Copyright has posted a two-page
response to my recent series of blog postings (transactional
licensing, economics of
the collective, future reforms,
all three posts in single
PDF)
titled "Let's Get the Facts Straight on Access Copyright."
Unfortunately, as has become typical for an organization that based its
advocacy strategy on Bill C-32 on misleading claims about fair dealing
in an effort to "break
through" beyond
talk of digital locks and levies, the document contains very few
facts to address its transparency and financial concerns.
The key
post
in my series involved a look at the economics of Access Copyright with
the goal of ascertaining how much of the revenue collected in 2010 was
distributed to Canadian authors. Those numbers should
be easy to find, but they are not. Access Copyright points to its total
distribution in 2010, which was $23.3 million. Yet this does not set
the record straight. First, this global amount was distributed to all
publishers and authors, both Canadian and foreign. Second, this figure
draws from both the 2010 revenues and
the balance entering the year, which stood at $29.5 million. How much
of the 2010 distribution came from 2010 revenues? How much went to
Canadian authors? Access Copyright still isn't saying.
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The largest copyright class action in Canadian history received court
approval
yesterday, with the four major record labels that comprise the Canadian
Recording Industry Association - EMI Music Canada Inc., Sony Music
Entertainment Canada Inc., Universal Music Canada Inc. and Warner Music
Canada Co. - agreeing to pay over $50 million to settle claims
involving hundreds of thousands of copyright infringements. The labels
admit no liability, though the $50 million settlement speaks for
itself. The industry practices, which involved profiting from thousands
of sound recordings without paying royalties, was described in the
lawsuit as "exploit now, pay later if at all." The settlement includes
a new system for payment of royalties that should ensure that the
situation does not repeat itself. I wrote about the class action here and here.
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As new Canadian Industry Minister Christian Paradis prepares to provide
an update on the delayed Canadian digital economy strategy later today,
Australia has released its digital
economy strategy
with a foundation of a national broadband network and eight goals that
focus on issues such as health, education, telework, and the
environment.
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