Appeared in the Hill Times on January 21, 2008 as Fair Copyright Provides Prentice With Reform Roadmap With the continued interest in Canadian copyright reform – the Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook group has grown to over 38,000 members and the local chapters across the country are gaining significant momentum […]
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Canada’s Copyright law is Stronger and Better than U.S.’s
Howard Knopf has two must-read posts: a copy of his exceptional Hill Times op-ed enumerating why Canadian copyright law is stronger than that found in the U.S. and a nice rebuttal to the 12 copyright lobbyists – he labels them the dire dozen – who penned a response to my […]
Politics Trumps Policy as Copyright Bill Approaches
The Hill Times features a special op-ed this week (HT version (sub required), homepage version) that I wrote on the recent Statistics Canada and Industry Canada studies on the music industry. With independent data now confirming that the Canadian music industry is enjoying healthy profits and that Internet file sharing […]
Politics Trumps Policy as Copyright Bill Approaches
Appeared in the Hill Times on November 12, 2007 as Politics Trumps Policy As Copyright Bill Approaches The annual Canadian Music Week celebration in Toronto is still several months away, but last week Ottawa staged its own version of the event. Two federal departments – Statistics Canada and Industry Canada […]
Navigating Canada’s Copyright Conflicts
The Hill Times runs a special op-ed (HT version (sub required), homepage version) I've written on the political challenges the government faces on copyright reform. I note that in a sure sign of an impending throne speech, copyright lobby groups are out in full force calling on the government to prioritize intellectual property protection in its fall legislative agenda. Despite efforts to put forward a united front, however, what is readily apparent to those close to the process is that copyright reform is rife with conflicts that create a significant political risk and require the expenditure of enormous political capital.
The recent revelations about a potential conflict of interest within the Canadian Heritage Copyright Policy Branch are certainly the most obvious manifestation of conflict concerns. Although perceived conflict issues in this area are nothing new, the existence of a personal relationship between the government’s head of copyright policy and Hollywood's top Canadian lobbyist at a time when the government is pursuing a copyright reform bill raises uncomfortable questions about who knew what and when within Canadian Heritage.
Yet focusing exclusively on this form of conflict would be a mistake, since conflicted agendas, policies, and stakeholders present a more treacherous minefield. These include: