IIPA, DMCA, 301, and Canadian Copyright Sovereignty

Canada is now on the IIPA "priority watch list."

This is clearly a blatant bullying attempt to influence domestic Canadian copyright reform, and the allegations are very wrong - especially since Canada already provides much stronger copyright protection in many important respects than the USA.

But don't take my word for it....

Here's a brilliant take on the IIPA, DMCA and Canada, from Bill Patry. This is a MUST to read. Bill is the author of a new and very important seven volume treatise on American copyright law and has taken a great interest in Canadian issues...

As Bill reports:

So what are the IIPA’s beefs? The principal ones ostensibly concern Canada’s failure to implement the 1996 WIPO treaties. Examination of the IIPA’s 301 reports reveals, though, that what it has in mind is simply adoption of U.S. law, not amendments to Canada law that are consistent with the treaties obligations. The WIPO treaties modestly require only remedies for circumvention of Technological Protection Measures (TPMs) that involve the exercise of exclusive rights. Although the U.S. attempted to have the treaties include remedies for circumvention of access controls, other countries rejected the U.S.’s efforts. One would never know this from the IIPA’s reports, which mix the two together and lead readers to believe both are required; they are not.

...

The intense, negative reaction of Canadian citizens to IIPA’s efforts is well-taken. Why any government would want to adopt approaches that have been admitted to be a dismal failure in the U.S. by the law’s own ardent author, and that are not required by the WIPO treaties is a mystery.

Read all of Bill's blog. More to come on this for sure.....

HK

Edgar Bronfman's "Epiphany" en route to Digital Damascus

While on the road to the Digital Damascus, Edgar now sayeth:

"We used to fool ourselves,' he said. "We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won."

(emphasis added)

Considering all the litigation, lobbying, legislation and treaties that we have seen in the past two decades, "inadvertently" is a strange choice of wording. But let's take our apologies and conversions where we can get them.

Now, if Edgar really believes this, his next step should be quite simple. He should immediately pull Warner out of all of the RIAA litigation against customers and music fans in the USA and elsewhere. Suing 12 year children and dead grandmothers hasn't worked.

Then, he can move on and perhaps be a real leader in a revitalized music industry, if such a miracle is still possible.

HK