Source : Montreal Gazette

Copyright reform, online content. Facing election jitters, federal government listens intently to debate on these issues

In the future, people may look back at 2008 as the year that redefined Canadian identity.

Two major clashes are predicted for this year, which might change how Canadians enjoy popular culture and what they enjoy. One fight is over copyright reform. The other concerns the regulation of Internet content.

And the federal government, feeling the election jitters, is listening intently to both sides.

On one side of the copyright war, consumers and academics say that stronger copyright laws will curtail digital freedoms to appease powerful U.S. record labels and film studios. Their opponents in industry say better copyright rules will protect artists from piracy and better defend Canadian cultural identity.

"Copyright on the Internet is a kitchen table issue for many Canadians, and MPs will have to start answering hard questions about it in their ridings," said Evan Prodromou, a local programmer and organizer of the Montreal consortium against copyright reform.

He's adding his voice to a growing chorus started by Michael Geist, an Ottawa law professor who rallied young tech-savvy Canadians to protest against a bill to amend Canada's Copyright Act.

Industry Minister Jim Prentice withdrew the controversial bill last month and has yet to announce when it will be introduced again. But he'll have to answer to tens of thousands of Canadians ready to flood his office with letters and phone calls, and pester their MPs.

"The only people who would benefit from copyright are American business owners who are operating in outdated business models," said Samuel Trosow, an associate law professor at the University of Western Ontario, and co-author of the book Canadian Copyright: A Citizen's Guide.

Speaking last night at Concordia University, Trosow said a Canadian copyright law that mirrors the U.S. version risks making access to information harder by making it illegal to break digital copy locks for personal use.

Of course, the government has industry lobby groups to answer to. The Canadian Recording Artists Association, which represents music labels, movie studios and video game firms, has long pushed for copyright reform. It says Canada's laws are outdated and don't conform to international treaties.

"Canada stands almost alone in having failed to modernize its laws in keeping with our decade-old commitments," the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists said on its website. "This failure has harmed our international reputation and landed us on several intellectual property rights watch lists."

The rhetoric isn't any gentler when it comes to online access to content. This year, the CRTC will hold public consultations on whether Internet content should be subject to Canadian content (CanCon) quotas, like television and radio.

Again, industry groups will be pitted against consumers. One side claims CanCon creates jobs and fosters a cultural identity. But consumers and some companies respond that it deprives people of good content by force-feeding them mediocre material.

Nick Barbuto, director of digital solutions for advertising giant Cossette Communications, sees market forces prevailing in favour of a North American entertainment model.

"Younger people have more choices and don't have as much loyalty to Canadian content as people once did," he said. "It will be difficult for the CanCon mentality to play in this ecosystem."

In 2008, Barbuto predicted, companies will realize they will have to secure the rights to foreign content quicker or Canadians will find clandestine way to get it, like illegal file-sharing networks.

And Canadian content makers will have to work harder to have the same audience numbers as U.S. artists.

"What makes content popular is that it's great content," he said. "Canadians have to compete internationally. If it's on par with what Americans make, you'll get Canadians to watch it."

© Montreal Gazette