Post Tagged with: "henderson"

Harper Letter to Music Canada on Budget Day Confirms Copyright Extension the Product of Industry Lobbying

Harper Letter to Music Canada on Budget Day Confirms Copyright Extension the Product of Industry Lobbying

The government’s decision to extend the term of copyright for sound recordings in the budget may have taken most copyright observers by surprise, but not the music industry. I’ve posted earlier on their extensive lobbying efforts on the issue and how the extension will reduce competition, increase costs for consumers, and harm access to Canadian Heritage. The record of lobbyist meetings gives a hint of the reasons behind the extension, but a letter sent by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that I recently obtained suggests that it all it took was a letter from Music Canada President Graham Henderson to the Prime Minister.

The Harper letter was sent on April 21, 2015, the day the budget was tabled. It states:

Thank you for your recent letter regarding the copyright term for sound recordings. I have reviewed this material carefully, and share your view that the current term of copyright protection for sound recordings falls short of what is required to protect artists and ensure they are fairly compensated for their work.

Please know that, as announced today in Budget 2015, our Government will extend copyright protection for sound recordings from 50 to 70 years. The extension will be incorporated into the Budget Implementation Act, and will be in effect immediately upon passage of the legislation.

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May 15, 2015 21 comments News
Buffy-Sainte-Marie-DSC_2407 by sidrguelph (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/6NkJNh

Canadian Recording Industry: Works Entering the Public Domain Are Not in the Public Interest

On World Book and Copyright Day, it is worth noting how Graham Henderson, the President of Music Canada (formerly the Canadian Recording Industry Association) characterized the government’s decision to extend the term of copyright in sound recordings and performances:

With each passing day, Canadian treasures like Universal Soldier by Buffy Sainte-Marie are lost to the public domain. This is not in the public interest.  It does not benefit the creator or their investors and it will have an adverse impact on the Canadian economy.”

This statement raises several issues. First, it should be noted that the song Universal Soldier by Buffy Sainte-Marie is not in the public domain nor will it be entering the public domain for decades. As the songwriter, Buffy Sainte-Marie still holds copyright in the song and will do so for her entire lifetime plus an additional 50 years (Howard Knopf further explains the issue of copyright term in songs in this post).

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April 23, 2015 22 comments News

Why Is CRIA Reluctant To Provide Public Specifics About Copyright Reform?

Last week, the Canadian Recording Industry Association appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage with discussion that focused largely on copyright reform (media coverage of the appearance here).  While copyright was the key issue, what was striking was CRIA's reluctance to actually specify what reforms it supports.  That may sound unusual, but a review of recent public statements suggests that it is actually quite typical.  In recent years, CRIA has become very reluctant to provide specific views on reforms, seemingly relying instead on the sort of backdoor, lobbyist-inspired meetings that are the talk of Ottawa due to the Rahim Jaffer situation.

The transcript has not been posted yet, however, a review of the unofficial transcript shows that CRIA President Graham Henderson provided no legal specifics in his opening statement.  During questioning, he was repeatedly asked what his organization wants.  First Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez asked, eliciting the following response:

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April 28, 2010 63 comments News

Music at Mesh

Music was a big focus of day one of the Mesh Conference with a keynote from Ethan Kaplan and a panel that included CRIA's Graham Henderson, David Usher, and Arts & Crafts Kieran Roy.  Interestingly, the word "copyright" was never mentioned.  The Kaplan keynote (liveblog here) focused on the value […]

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May 21, 2008 3 comments News

CRIA Calls SAC P2P Proposal A “Pipe Dream”

CRIA's Graham Henderson has told Reuters that the Songwriters Association of Canada's proposal to fully legalize P2P is a "pipe dream" and that CRIA is reluctant to get involved.

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January 4, 2008 13 comments News