Michael Geist

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The CCA’s $126 Million Wheel of Fortune: Guessing at Bill C-32’s Costs

The financial impact of Bill C-32 has been one of the key issues throughout the recent rounds of the copyright reform hearings. Numbers have been bandied about, but when challenged by MPs such as Dean Del Mastro and Mike Lake, the evidence for claimed losses has been lacking. The Canadian Conference of the Arts recently attempted to address the issue by floating a figure of $126 million that is says is “at serious risk of disappearing” for artists and rights holders as a result of Bill C-32. While it is good to see the CCA effort to quantify a number, the $126 million does not stand up to even mild scrutiny.

March 3, 2011 — 32 comments — News

Canadian Broadcasters Say C-32 Needed to Save Local Radio

Last year, Canadian broadcasters launched a major public campaign to “Save Local TV”, which was their effort to rally support for new fees for retransmission of local television signals. The Federal Court of Appeal ruled this week that the CRTC has the legal power to authorize networks to negotiate to […]

March 2, 2011 — 22 comments — News

CRIA Wrote To PCH Committee To Support iPod Levy Weeks Before Telling Gov’t Officials It Opposed It

Yesterday I blogged about how the Canadian Recording Industry Association has broken with creator groups and the Canadian Independent Music Association on the issue of an iPod levy. While the creator groups continue to express their support for the levy, CRIA’s Graham Henderson told government officials on September 27, 2010 […]

March 2, 2011 — 8 comments — News

The Legal Case Against isoHunt

The Globe and Mail covers the legal case against isoHunt, with discussion of the Canadian recording industry’s lawsuit against the site using existing law. The article suggests that CRIA has filed cease and desist letters against the site (using existing law) in addition to the statement of claim and statement […]

March 2, 2011 — 11 comments — News

Australia Considers New Digital Lock Exceptions

Australia’s Attorney General has said he is looking into establishing new digital lock exceptions under that country’s copyright law. Robert McLelland specifically cited circumvention for some educational purposes, including circumvention of digital locks on DVDs. The U.S. established an exception for some DVD circumvention last summer, but Canada’s Bill C-32 […]

March 2, 2011 — 2 comments — News