TORONTO – While technically, they lost, the Canadian Recording Industry Association says it welcomes Thursday’s decision by the Federal Court of Appeal.
The appeal was denied, but the ruling clarified the steps necessary to obtain disclosure of the identities of alleged large-scale uploaders from Internet service providers and rejected the findings of the motions court with respect to copyright law.
"We welcome the court’s confirmation that Canada isn’t a piracy haven," says CRIA President Graham Henderson. "This was the key issue on which we appealed, and we’re delighted that the court agreed with us."
The court decision hinged on evidence it decided was hearsay and denied the music industry’s request for appeal.
This court, however, said the lower court judge erred in his findings when it came to copyright law and CRIA read that to say it found “that artists and innovators ‘need to be encouraged to develop their own talents and personal expression of artistic ideas… If they are robbed of the fruits of their efforts,’ the incentive to create disappears. The Court goes on to find that: ‘Modern technology such as the Internet… must not be allowed to obliterate those personal property rights which society has deemed important. Although privacy concerns must also be considered… they must yield to public concerns for the protection of intellectual property rights in situations where infringement threatens to erode these rights,’” says the CRIA press release.
“We are encouraged that the Court of Appeal recognized the value of music and provided a roadmap for how we can defend that value from those who would seek to steal it," says Lisa Zbitnew, president, SONY BMG MUSIC (CANADA) INC.
"Today’s decision removes a legal limbo that has existed since the motions court ruling spurred headlines around the world that Canada is a ‘piracy haven’," explained Henderson. "We have to remember the incalculable toll that the motions court decision has had on the careers of countless artists."
Henderson added that while the Court found that CRIA would require additional evidence before proceeding with the 29 actions filed to date, "The court has clearly articulated the evidentiary standards that we need to meet and we are satisfied that we can meet those standards in future applications. Large-scale music swappers should know that they can and will be held accountable."
Last month, CRIA appealed a motions court’s March 2004 refusal to require five Internet service providers (ISPs) – Bell/Sympatico, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications, Telus Corporation and Videotron Ltd. – to identify a number of subscribers who have allegedly distributed thousands of digital music files to strangers.
The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) promotes the interests of Canadian record companies and artists. CRIA represents the producers, manufacturers and distributors of more than 95 per cent of all records produced and sold in Canada.
