The IFPI, the global RIAA, this week released its annual Recording Industry in Numbers report that tracks global record sales. In its release, it chose to target two countries – Canada and Spain – for declining sales and linked those declines to copyright law. As it no doubt intended, the […]
Post Tagged with: "canada"
Pirate Party of Canada Receives Official Party Status
The Toronto Sun reports that Pirate Party of Canada has received official party status.
Australian Officials Borrow U.S. Rhetoric On Canadian Copyright
An Australian blogger reports on a recent conversation with Australian government officials discussing ACTA and copyright related issues. The report indicates that Australia – which changed its copyright laws under pressure from the U.S. as part of a trade deal – now borrows from the U.S. playbook in criticizing the […]
Canada vs. New Zealand at the ACTA Talks
Yesterday's ACTA leak that provides full detail on each country's negotiation position attracted immediate media attention, with the New Zealand press picking up on the story (and that country's tough position), while the Australian press lamented their country's relative silence at the negotiation table. And what of Canada? The Canadian positions on the Internet chapter culled from the EU leaked document are:
- expresses concern with the disparity between the section title and the scope of content of the section
- seeks clarification of the scope of "related rights" in provision dealing with a general enforcement obligation. Argues that it should be consistent with the Criminal and Civil Enforcement chapters
- concerns with a footnote on third party liability that seeks to define its scope. Canada notes that the footnote effectively changes the meaning of the main text.
- seeks more information on the scope of "modification" to the content in a provision on online service providers
- notes that the relationship between third party liability and ISP limitation on liability is unclear
- seeks clarification of the relationship of anti-circumvention exceptions to access control measures
That's it. Compare the Canadian focus on clarifications of legal language and hints at opposition with the far-tougher, more explicit New Zealand positions:
Canadian Digital Music Sales Growth Beats The U.S. For the 4th Straight Year
Nielsen Soundscan has just released the Canadian music sales figures for 2009. Notwithstanding the regular claims that the Canadian digital music market cannot develop without copyright reform, the Canadian market grew faster than the U.S. market for the fourth consecutive year. As the chart below demonstrates, digital music sales have grown faster in Canada than in the U.S. in every year since 2006:
| Year | Canada | United States |
| 2009 | 38% | 8% |
| 2008 | 58% | 27% |
| 2007 | 73% | 45% |
| 2006 | 122% | 65% |
While this does not suggest that the market is thriving – a down economy with more competition for the entertainment dollar it is a tough market – it does confirm yet again that attempts to link copyright reform to the development of a Canadian digital market are not borne out by the facts. Indeed, Canada has consistently grown faster than the United States (from an admittedly lower starting point given that digital music stores arrived later in Canada).
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