VANCOUVER and TORONTO – The federal government will conduct eight weeks of nationwide consultations to solicit Canadians’ opinions on the issue of copyright.
In order to be as inclusive and transparent as possible, the discussions will include many ways for Canadians to voice their opinions, from an on-line forum, a web-based submission centre where participants can upload their own position papers so that other people can view their work, to ‘round table’ discussions for stakeholders, and town hall meetings.
"Canadians are concerned with copyright and its implications in our increasingly digital environment,” said Industry Minister Tony Clement in Monday’s announcement. “Our goal is to give Canadians from across the country a chance to express their views on how the government should approach the modernization of copyright laws. Your opinions and suggestions will help us draft new, flexible legislation so that Canada can regain its place on the cutting edge of the digital economy."
In today’s digital environment, Canadian copyright laws need to be updated in order “to foster innovation and economic growth”, and to give Canadian creators and consumers “the tools they need to keep Canada competitive internationally”.
"We all know that new technologies are changing the landscape and that Canadian copyright laws need to be updated," Heritage Minister James Moore said in the announcement. "By leveraging new technologies, we are providing as many people as possible with access to our consultative process through interactive, web-based and real-time discussions. With today’s launch, we are on track to introducing modern and responsive copyright legislation in the fall."
Some of the new technologies mentioned by Minister Moore include webcasts of two of the town hall meetings, allowing Canadians the chance to submit comments and questions in real time from their computers; a Twitter site; and the ability to download all submissions and discussions held during the consultation in a variety of formats from the website www.copyrightconsultation.ca.
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) was quick to applaud the government’s decision to make the new legislation open to input from all Canadians.
“It’s encouraging to see the current government embark on public consultations on copyright,” said national president Ferne Downey, in a statement. “If the traffic on Facebook and Twitter is any indication, there are a lot of engaged citizens of all ages eager to talk about copyright reform in Canada – a fantastic trend considering we are talking about copyright law.”
Unlike the Conservative’s government’s previous copyright reform legislation in Bill C-61, this modernized version “has to make sense for Canadians and how they live their lives today”, Minister Clement said at the press conference, held immediately following the first round table discussion at a public library in Vancouver.
"What we’re grappling with is how to have a law that makes sense for today but can also be anticipatory of how things can evolve in the future as well,” he said.
Minister Clement also stressed the need to balance the needs of all stakeholders and “branches of the economy and society” – from authors and artists, the people who enable creativity, and consumers – which seems to mesh well with ACTRA’s goal.
“ACTRA is working for copyright reform in Canada and internationally because our copyright system needs to balance the interests of consumers with the need to respect the property and remuneration rights of Canadian creators and makers in their work,” said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director.
– Lesley Hunter
