Canadian Musicians take a stand

[Bobblehead]

In the US, the RIAA has been suing people they feel are sharing music illegally. In one case, they sued a Texas teen for downloading an Avril Lavigne song. The publisher of that song, Nettwork Records, is a Canadian firm and has offered to pay the teen's legal fees to fight the lawsuit. They said that they don't believe suing their fans is the correct way to address the problem.

A few weeks ago, most of the Independant Canadian Music Publishers removed their affiliation from the Canadian Recording Industry Association since they saw this group as more and more pursuing a more anti-consumer/anti-fan agenda.

Now today, a coalition of Canadian artists (Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41, Stars, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), Dave Bidini (Rheostatics), Billy Talent, John K. Samson (Weakerthans), Broken Social Scene, Sloan, Andrew Cash and Bob Wiseman (Co-founder Blue Rodeo)), have formed the Canadian Music Creators Coalition.

The CMCC is united under three key principles:
Suing Our Fans is Destructive and Hypocritical Artists do not want to sue music fans. The labels have been suing our fans against artists’ will, and laws enabling these suits cannot be justified in artists’ names
Digital Locks are Risky and Counterproductive Artists do not support using digital locks to increase the labels’ control over the distribution, use and enjoyment of music or laws that prohibit circumvention of such technological measures. Consumers should be able to transfer the music they buy to other formats under a right of fair use, without having to pay twice.
Cultural Policy Should Support Actual Canadian Artists The vast majority of new Canadian music is not promoted by major labels, which focus mostly on foreign artists. The government should use other policy tools to support actual Canadian artists and a thriving musical and cultural scene.

I know there are a lot of music fans on CP who enjoy many smaller Canadian bands. It is initiatives like this that may give more of those 'fringe' bands a chance to make a living.

[Lanny_MacDonald]

Brilliant!!! Another example of the differences between Canadians and Americans. Canadians attempt to cooperate to find solutions to problems like this, Americans tend to take a right or wrong approach and get tough quickly. Kudos to the artists for appreciating the correct way to resolve the matter!

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Lanny_MacDonald

Brilliant!!! Another example of the differences between Canadians and Americans. Canadians attempt to cooperate to find solutions to problems like this, Americans tend to take a right or wrong approach and get tough quickly. Kudos to the artists for appreciating the correct way to resolve the matter!

and Danes.

What a great move and idea.

Although, I do thnk anyone who downloads an Avril Lavigne song deserves to be sued.

[mykalberta]

Downloading music is illegal and is stealing, there is no ifs ands right wing left wing about it.

The simple fact of the matter is the US holds the letter of the law and Canada will attempt to mold the letter of the law if it doesnt like its results.

Piracy is very easy to solve, the Federal Government of Canada should set up a division, say one or two people to check sites and to block those sites from Canadian internet access. There are 4 main Internet ports in to Canada, (UofA, UBC, UofT, and one in Ottawa or Quebec). You could easily block those sites from the source.

Problem is the NIMBY's who fear anything that harbours freedom of "insert whatever buzz word is popular at the time".

MYK

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Piracy is very easy to solve, the Federal Government of Canada should set up a division, say one or two people to check sites and to block those sites from Canadian internet access. There are 4 main Internet ports in to Canada, (UofA, UBC, UofT, and one in Ottawa or Quebec). You could easily block those sites from the source.
MYK

If I wanted my Government to screen what I am able to look at and download on the Internet, I will move to China, thanks though.

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Problem is the NIMBY's who fear anything that harbours freedom of "insert whatever buzz word is popular at the time".

Hey, if you want the Govt to tell you what you can and can't view on the internet, that is your choice. What makes the internet such a powerful tool, is that it is free and open, as soon as you start regulating it, then it's usefullness is diminished.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Downloading music is illegal and is stealing, there is no ifs ands right wing left wing about it.

The simple fact of the matter is the US holds the letter of the law and Canada will attempt to mold the letter of the law if it doesnt like its results.

Piracy is very easy to solve, the Federal Government of Canada should set up a division, say one or two people to check sites and to block those sites from Canadian internet access. There are 4 main Internet ports in to Canada, (UofA, UBC, UofT, and one in Ottawa or Quebec). You could easily block those sites from the source.

Problem is the NIMBY's who fear anything that harbours freedom of "insert whatever buzz word is popular at the time".

MYK

Downloading music is grey. Making copyrighted files available illegally is illegal. Is it illegal to download from allofmp3.com? Is it illegal for me to get mp3s p2p of CDs I already own?

Block 4 internet ports? Umm, are you that naive to think that would work? Have you ever heard of peer 2 peer?

This article was about artists deciding to disassociate themselves with a group that supports infringes on consumers fair use of what they buy. The artists think the letter of the law should not be enforced, but you do? Is that what you are saying?

[arsenal]

And it isn't the artists per say that want to go ahead with legal action. It is mainly the music executives. Probably driven by share holders demands.

[photon]

Downloading music isn't stealing, it's copyright infringement, something very different.

Downloading or sharing music isn't currently illegal in Canada under current copyright laws. We pay for it through a levy with every blank CD we buy, and if the CRIA had their way we'd pay with every MP3 player we buy and with every bit we download over the Internet (via a surcharge on ISPs).

Blocking sites that have pirated material is not the right way to go about the problem. That sounds more like a solution made in China, not Canada.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Downloading music is illegal and is stealing, there is no ifs ands right wing left wing about it.

Obviously the artists disagree with you.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Piracy is very easy to solve, the Federal Government of Canada should set up a division, say one or two people to check sites and to block those sites from Canadian internet access. There are 4 main Internet ports in to Canada, (UofA, UBC, UofT, and one in Ottawa or Quebec). You could easily block those sites from the source.

That's a brilliant idea. I hope those two people are willing to work a lot of overtime though.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Obviously the artists disagree with you.

I think alot of these artists who say they dont have a problem with music piracy really dont support it as much as they say they do but after seeing the type of backlash a band can get like when Metallica sued Napster they're afraid to make it known they're against it because they dont want to risk losing a chunk of their fanbase or have their image of "doing it just for the music" tarnished because of it. Saying you're for music piracy is a good way for an unknown or not very well known artist to play the good guy and win over fans too.

[Bobblehead]

Personally, I think this is trying to look for a better solution to prevent issues like Mango's thread looking for an MP3 player that works with iTunes.

Wouldn't it be nice if any MP3 player worked with music purchased from any online music store?

Wouldn't it be nice if you would put a CD or DVD in your computer without risking having a rootkit or other malicious software installed?

It would be great if you didn't have to use special software to convert your CDs to a format for use with your MP3.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Inferno

I think alot of these artists who say they dont have a problem with music piracy really dont support it as much as they say they do but after seeing the type of backlash a band can get like when Metallica sued Napster they're afraid to make it known they're against it because they dont want to risk losing a chunk of their fanbase or have their image of "doing it just for the music" tarnished because of it. Saying you're for music piracy is a good way for an unknown or not very well known artist to play the good guy and win over fans too.

They aren't saying "we are for music piracy", they are saying "we are against lawsuits".

If Metallica didn't have such an obnoxious little rat whining about a missing ivory backscratcher every day then they wouldn't have seen a backlash at all.

[Clarkey]

One of Metallica's arguements against piracy was that their songs on an album are meant to be listened together as one piece of work and therefor people downloading individual songs was fracturing their "art". I thought that was funny because they had no problem releasing singles to the radio. Now it is possible to download entire albums at a time, I wonder what their opinion is on that.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

They aren't saying "we are for music piracy", they are saying "we are against lawsuits".

If Metallica didn't have such an obnoxious little rat whining about a missing ivory backscratcher every day then they wouldn't have seen a backlash at all.

Yes, but I was responding to the comment about artists not agreeing that pirating music is illegal and not the original post.

As far as Lars causing the backlash against Metallica by himself it wouldnt have mattered if Hetfield or any of the other band members would have spoke on behalf of Metallica about it. People started bitching and moaning right when it was announced that Metallica was filing a lawsuit. There's alot of people out there (I'm best friends with one) who figure they should get everything free and that bands or movie and video game companies have no right to try and stop it.

[Bobblehead]

In Canada the levy on blank media has collected over $150 Million dollars to be distributed to artists for lost royalties due to piracy. Everytime you buy blank CDs or (gasp) cassette tapes the levy is charged.

Ethical question: I have quite a few tapes and albums from way back. The artist has already been paid a royalty. Should I be allowed to download MP3s of all these songs? Why or why not?

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by Clarkey

One of Metallica's arguements against piracy was that their songs on an album are meant to be listened together as one piece of work and therefor people downloading individual songs was fracturing their "art". I thought that was funny because they had no problem releasing singles to the radio. Now it is possible to download entire albums at a time, I wonder what their opinion is on that.

You can buy their albums on MSN Music so they probably dont have a problem with it otherwise it wouldnt be available.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Ethical question: I have quite a few tapes and albums from way back. The artist has already been paid a royalty. Should I be allowed to download MP3s of all these songs? Why or why not?

You should be able to. Like you said you've already paid for it. I've downloaded songs from tapes I've bought before CDs came out and feel like I'm doing nothing wrong. I find myself buying the CD if I like the whole album though since I'm the type that would rather have the real CD with cover art than just a burnt CD.

[Dirty Mr. Clean]

Great to see them stand up!