Post Tagged with: "copyrightCopyright Microsite – Canadian CopyrightCopyright Microsite – Music Industry"

Music Industry Needs Dose Of Innovation, Not Intervention

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, Ottawa Citizen version, The Tyee version, homepage version) focuses on the contrast between artists such as Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails that are adopting new distribution models, and the recording industry, which continues to lobby for anti-circumvention legislation.  In the weeks leading up to today's Speech from the Throne, CRIA and others lobby groups have urged the government to prioritize intellectual property protection. 

While the data suggests that peer-to-peer file sharing is at best only a minor reason for the decline (more significant is competition from DVD and video game sales and the emergence of big box retailers such as Wal-Mart who have pushed down retail prices and decimated sales of older titles), events over the past month have provided the clearest indication yet that musicians and music sellers are charting a new course that is leaving the major record labels behind.

In the mid-1990s, the industry focused on retaining its core business model by emphasizing two strategies.  First, it relied on copy-control technologies, supported by additional legal measures, to curtail unauthorized copying.  Second, it lobbied for the establishment of a private copying levy on blank media to compensate for the copying that technology could not control.

Ten years later, that strategy is now in tatters.  

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October 16, 2007 7 comments Columns

CRIA’s “Anti-Piracy” Spending

The Copyright Board of Canada is currently conducting the Tariff 22 hearings with "the Coalition" (which includes CRIA and Apple) scheduled to appear next week.  Public access to the parties' submissions typically excludes most financial information, however, the witness statement from CRIA President Graham Henderson contains an interesting piece of […]

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April 24, 2007 Comments are Disabled News

CRIA Fumes Over Heritage-Commissioned Music Report

Last month I posted about a recently released report commissioned by Canadian Heritage on the future of the Canadian music industry.  I noted that the report provides a realistic assessment of the challenges facing the industry, emphasizing the need to embrace the Internet and new technologies without laying the blame […]

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March 13, 2007 3 comments News

Federal Ct Issues Nearly Million Dollar Fine For Failing to Pay Levy

A federal court judge has fined Vortek Systems, a Montreal-based electronics retailer, nearly one million dollars for failing to pay the private copying levy.  The company was ordered to turn over the unpaid levy amounts ($1.65 million plus interest) along with a penalty of just over $900,000.  Vortek denied that […]

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March 17, 2006 1 comment News

Not Playing At A Tiny Screen Near You

This week's announcement from Apple and ABC/Disney about the availability of ABC shows such as Desperate Housewives and Lost as downloads for US$1.99 for the new video-playing iPod has rightly attracted significant attention.  This is the first step toward another new market – television shows for virtually immediate download.  I […]

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October 14, 2005 3 comments News