The latest from the Department of Canadian Heritage
Recently the Department of Canadian Heritage has come out with a good report. I’m referred to it by a post in Michael Geist’s blog. I’m disappointed with the coverage it’s received thus far but I don’t have anything to add. Instead, I shall quote Dr. Geist’s assessment and invite other canucks to read through the report with me. I’m already liking the sections dealing with DRM and the alternative methods of monetizing P2P. I just wish it had something on the expansion of fair dealing and the prevention of TPMs restricting it. I want to format shift, damn it!
From Michael Geist’s blog …
- The report is very realistic in its assessment of the challenges faced by the industry, pointing to the decline in sales following the CD replacement surge, the impact of Wal-Mart and retail channel changes, and the failure of the industry to provide consumers with music in the form and manner they were demanding.
- It enthusiastically embraces the Internet and new technology, rejecting DRM-based solutions and acknowledging the potential of MySpace and Internet sharing to generate new revenues to replace those lost by declining CD sales.
- It puts on the table the prospect of alternative compensation systems for P2P sharing.
- It calls attention to the failure to digitize Canadian music, noting that government programs fund for the completion of CDs, not digitization that allows for downloads. Further, it laments that much of the Canadian back catalog of music has never been digitized.
- There is not a single word about copyright reform. Copyright is discussed within the context of licensing issues and the copyright board, but there are no recommendations calling for major copyright reform.
- It distinguishes between the music industry and the CD industry, with the former very healthy and the latter diminishing year-by-year. Left unsaid, though no less important, is to distinguish between the Canadian music industry, which is dominated by independent labels, and CRIA, which largely represents the industry outside the country.
