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CRIA and CMPDA Step Up Canadian Copyright Lobby Campaign

While CRIA may be preparing a "grassroots" campaign to promote DMCA-style copyright reform, it is unsurprisingly not waiting for that effort to take hold.  According to the latest lobbying reports filed with the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying, CRIA and CMPDA have been among the most active on the copyright front, with both groups obtaining meetings with Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore in late March. With Juno Awards days later, there were presumably additional lobbying opportunities that will show up in the next round of reports. The latest round of reported meetings include:

  • March 30, 2009 – Charles King (representing Microsoft) meeting with Zoe Addington, senior policy advisory to Industry Minister Tony Clement
  • March 27, 2009 – David Dyer (representing the CMPDA) meeting with Ian Todd, chief of staff to Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore
  • March 26, 2009 – David Dyer (representing the CMPDA) and the CMPDA meeting with Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore
  • March 24, 2009 – David Dyer (representing CRIA) meeting with Bill King, chief of staff to Industry Minister Tony Clement
  • March 23, 2009 – David Dyer (representing CRIA) meeting with Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore
  • March 10, 2009 – David Dyer (representing CRIA) meeting with Paul Wilson, the Director of Policy in the Prime Minister's Office
  • March 12, 2009 – Sandra Graham (representing CRIA) meeting with Brendan Marshall, Executive Assistant to the Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
  • March 5, 2009 – Microsoft meeting with Ian Todd
  • February 18, 2009 – Entertainment Software Association meeting with Addington, Tanya Peat, Director of Policy for Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, and Andrea Paine, Director of Parliamentary Affairs for Minister Moore
  • February 12, 2009 – Canadian Chamber of Commerce meeting with Elaine Feldman, Assistant Deputy Minister, North America, Foreign Affairs and International Trade
  • February 12, 2009 – Canadian Music Publishers Association meeting with Addington
  • February 3, 2009 – David Dyer (representing CRIA and the CMPDA) meeting with Mike Lake, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry

Reports on previous lobbying activities include July 2008, August 2008, November & December 2008, and January 2009.

9 Comments

  1. How can the unfunded public compete with this?
    How is the unfunded, working-just-to-keep-food-on-the-table-and-pay-their-taxes “constituency” supposed to compete with all of the attention our elected officials give “industry” in these matters? Who has the time or money to go to 5 meetings (presumably all in Ottawa) in two months?

    The one, most important group that our elected government is supposed be serving doesn’t have the time to carry on such campaigns in their own interest because they are too busy just trying to make their own ends meet (but only after fulfilling their obligations to keeping the “trough” full up in Ottawa).

    The more I see of government in this country the more it makes me sick to my stomach.

  2. United Hackers Association says:

    we have to actualy start getting in there face
    as in organize protests WHERE they have JUNO awards

    Organize protests at music award shows

    Organize protests at there buildings and GET IN THERE FACE

    letter writing and being nice seems not to work to these corporate AIG style greedy bastards, like 350 million in levies is NOT enough

    WERE IN A RECESSION
    and WE NEED TO UNLEECT THE CONSERVATIVES

  3. Where are the groups representing our interests? Are there any lobby reports from groups such as the CMCC, SAC, FCFC?

  4. Re: we have to actualy start getting in there face
    Dude,

    My point still stands, that we the people, are too busy working to pay their taxes to also show up at events and put on protests and whatnot. The “industry” is getting paid do in their day jobs (and still have time to go home and hug their kids and spouses) that which we need to do in our “spare” time. It’s a losing equation.

  5. RE: …
    “Where are the groups representing our interests? Are there any lobby reports from groups such as the CMCC, SAC, FCFC?”

    Most of those groups (with the possible exception of the SAC) would not be required to report their meetings.

  6. Huh?
    “350 million in levies”? Huh? Who got that kind of money? You must be on drugs, dude.

  7. vaudevillian says:

    Our lobbiests are supposed to be the government. But it seems that they are on the take and are corrupted.

  8. Lobbying is not the problem, government power is
    We shouldn’t have a Heritage Minister. This country would be better if we eliminated 98% of government positions. Our government should not have the power to take things by force from one person and give them to another. If we didn’t allow the government to have such extraordinary power in the first place we wouldn’t need to worry about lobbying.

  9. $350 million in levies
    ” Huh?
    ‘350 million in levies’? Huh? Who got that kind of money? You must be on drugs, dude. ”
    The CPCC (Canadian Private Copying Collective). They had collected $145 million between 2000 and 2005, so $350 million to date is entirely believable.

    Blank CD levies, MP3 player levies. The pigopolists (I love that term, thanks theregister..) up in Canada have the nerve to charge you for blanks to cover perceived lost sales due to private copying, then now are trying to illegalize the copying you’ve already paid for. You know here in the US I can go to Office Depot and pick up a 100 pack of for like US$13? (They’re like $10 or a bit less sometimes.) The levies alone up there in Canada for this are CN$21. A MP3 player? $25 (although, from what I gather the MP3 player levy is working it’s way through the courts, and currently not collected.)

    Good luck!