February 20, 2017
The world has come a long way since Napster; the music industry, not so much. Unable to figure out a solution to dwindling sales that came largely as an effect of online music piracy, we ended up with streaming, which still doesn’t make much money compared to the good ol’ days, but at least it’s not illegal. But even with the ubiquitous presence of easily acquired mass hordes of music, piracy is still alive and well. Canada’s copyright laws have made it a pretty attractive place to do said pirating, and CBC reports that there’s a group of American rights holders who would like the country to put a stop to that.
The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) submitted an annual report to the U.S. Trade Representative that says progress has been made in the past year shutting down Canadian-based hosts of illegitimate content, but also says Canada has earned a reputation as a safe haven for illegal file sharing, and more needs to be done about the theft of intellectual property in the country. The IIPA is a private sector coalition that represents American copyright holders—including ones holding copyrights in music. The report also places Canada on a watch list of countries that are performing particularly poorly when it comes to enforcing the theft of intellectual property.
The solution, the IIPA posits, is strengthening legal incentives for internet service providers to work with rights holders and urging authorities to make enforcement of online copyright offenses a priority. Currently, internet service providers have no legal obligation to provide personal information about their clients, making it pretty much impossible for rights holders to target individuals they suspect have made copyright violations. Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly has said that the Parliament committee on heritage will be reviewing the Copyright Act later this year.
In Other News:
- CBC Radio host Stuart McLean died.
- There’s a lot of musical events happening for Canada’s 150th.
- Thieves stole $2 million USD in jewelry from Alanis Morissette.
- See which musicians are lacing up for the Juno Cup.
- A US Department of Defense command post has reportedly banned Nickelback.
- What does Justin Trudeau have against Paul Simon?
Festival Lineups: Guelph’s Kazoo! Fest, Ottawa’s 125th Stanley Cup Anniversary, Calgary’s Sled Island, Oro-Medonte’s WayHome, the Canadian Juggalo Weekend, Montreal’s Pouzza Fest, Canadian Music Week
