Rich Fiscus
17 Nov 2007 18:52
Caroline Grondin, spokesman for the Industry Canada ministry made music and movie executives happy when she announced that Canada should soon have new legislation in place to dramatically reduce the amount of internet piracy in the country. Even aside from Canadian entertainment figures, the country has been getting a lot of pressure from other countries to make substantial changes to copyright law in order to protect content owners' rights.
"Canada's Copyright Act needs to be reformed to respond to the challenges of the digital age," she said. "New protections proposed for the benefit of rights holders will seek to address online infringement as well as create a legal framework that encourages the rollout, by rights holders, of new business models."
Graham Henderson, president of labels body the Canadian Recording Industry Assn. (CRIA), said the legislation will demonstrate the country's commitment to protecting its songwriters and musicians.
"Is it going to replace our lost revenue every year? Of course not," Henderson said. "But it is a start. Right now, our big problem is that digital sales aren't replacing lost physical sales. A new Copyright Act would help foster new digital business models that haven't appeared in Canada because of piracy."
Source: Reuters