Canadian Songwriters Want to Legalize File-Sharing

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I'm not sure what they are putting in the water in Canada but it sure seems like it is working. :eek:

While most of the major entertainment industry companies wage war against BitTorrent sites, the Songwriters Association of Canada prefers to embrace file-sharing. Speaking with TorrentFreak, vice president Jean-Robert Bisaillon says that the Internet has revived the music business. Sharing music is part of people’s nature and the songwriters want to legalize file-sharing, while compensating the artists whose works are shared.
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Along with compensation and file sharing, the music and movie industry needs some kind of "open copyright" where I can buy music or movies from another country online freely and without issue.

Let's face it, there isn't a lot of good music in the US nowadays, well to me anyway. I pretty much stick to some Alternative and listen to a lot of Country music. Pop? Pop music died after the mid-90s to me.

The rest of my music come from outside the US-- Canada, France, Japan, Korea, and England. I usually have to resort to buying the whole CDs and if push comes to shove, torrents. Yes, I admit it.

I can't even buy them in iTunes or another place online because copyrights in other countries disallow them from being sold online outside their country of origin.

Heck, most of the foreign of the films I've watched are better most of the US movies I've seen in the last ten years. Yet, I can't buy them online. I have to resort to dedicate websites that are willing to export the DVD or BD overseas to the US. And, that gets expensive fast.

So, we need some kind of open copyright that says, "Hey, you can buy this online even if you're not from this country. At least you're paying for the artist or studio for that music or movie." Right?
 
The thing missing in the article is how exactly they will "monetize" the file sharing. Subscription service maybe? Presumably traditional (non-monetized) file sharing would still be illegal.
 
The important detail is where that compensation is going to come from.

If it is going to be a blanket levy to all internet users, then this is no longer as attractive to the public is it?

Certain blank media formats in Canada by the way already carry a levy, which is redistributed to copyright holders.
 
Spiritual Machine said:
The thing missing in the article is how exactly they will "monetize" the file sharing. Subscription service maybe? Presumably traditional (non-monetized) file sharing would still be illegal.
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Funny thing about free enterprise - set the framework, and they will find a way to make money. Youtube is a good example of a free-reign service - where, under the right terms, content rights holders can generate revenues.
 
What I would like to see is a canadian torrent site that is ad supported, and have part or all the revenue generated from the ads go to the artists as compensation. This way filesharing continues and they get paid.
 
TwistedAegis said:
Isn't water in Canada called Molson?
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Since we're on the subject of beer:

Molson or Budwiser yes. We drink beer, not water ;)

We also drink Coors Light but that's like drinking air. But it could be worse:

Coors Light: Has more flavor than Kristen Stewart!
 
Good thing bill C-11 will destroy pretty much anything digital, fuck majority governments.
 
limitedaccess said:
The important detail is where that compensation is going to come from.

If it is going to be a blanket levy to all internet users, then this is no longer as attractive to the public is it?

Certain blank media formats in Canada by the way already carry a levy, which is redistributed to copyright holders.
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We had something similar in the United States up until about the mid 2000's. Up until that point all recording media meant for audio purposes had a tax on it, this included casette, minidisc, DAT & CD-A. Thats why back in the late 90's to early 2000's there were special "Audio only" CD-R's that were usually near the CD recording decks. They weren't more expensive because they were special, they were more expensive because they had the tax on them that RIAA couldn't lobby to be placed on "data" CD-R's. The fee's as far as I know did not go to the artists directly, perhaps your wording of "copyright holders" is accurate.

Now that the medium has moved to the computer industry (harddrives, flash, network), the RIAA can't convince anyone to let them tax it. Hence the epic sueing.

I would like a return to open music. The emphasis of making music for money feels like its starting to tarnish the legitamecy of the work. If people created music because they wanted to, not because they were obligated to under contract, I think the quality of music would be better. However it has been argued that when copyrights guarantee artists indefinent income on a peice of work that there is not as much of a urge to create more. Thus the art form stagnates.
 
(snickers while downing on some German beer)

Harper Conservative certainly isn't drinking whatever the ordinary Canucks are drinking...
 
Reimu said:
(snickers while downing on some German beer)

Harper Conservative certainly isn't drinking whatever the ordinary Canucks are drinking...
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The Harper conservatives are drinking all kinds of stupid.
 
After Adams, Dion, Lavigne (however it's spelt), Morissette, beiber, twain, furtado, buble etc. and things like rush and nickelback, canada's pop musicians had a lot to answer for. This has gone part of the way to mending these deep deep wounds. :p
 
Hamish Campbell said:
Has any good music ever come out of canada?
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People like leonard cohen (I don't but that song gets used in everything...it pisses me off because when I was doing studio sessins for random people they ALWAYS sing that hallelujah song...)

Other than that...mylene farmer?
 
Hamish Campbell said:
Has any good music ever come out of canada?
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WTF, never heard of Bryan Adams!?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Adams

"...Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television in 1992. He has also won MTV, ASCAP, and American Music awards. In addition, he has won two Ivor Novello Awards for song composition and has been nominated for several Golden Globe Awards and three times for Academy Awards for his songwriting for films.

...

Adams was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with the 2,435th star in March 2011 and Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998,[3] and in April 2006 he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at Canada's Juno Awards.[4] In 2008, Bryan was ranked 38 on the list of All-Time top artists by the Billboard Hot 100 50th Anniversary Charts. On 13 January 2010, he received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award for his part in numerous charitable concerts and campaigns during his career,[5] and on 1 May 2010 was given the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for his 30 years of contributions to the arts.[6]..."
 
Upshift said:
Since we're on the subject of beer:

Molson or Budwiser yes. We drink beer, not water ;)

We also drink Coors Light but that's like drinking air. But it could be worse:

Coors Light: Has more flavor than Kristen Stewart!
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Please don't speak for all Canadians. For instance, for much of the western provinces water is known as Pilsner. For me its Moosehead.
 
Wierdo said:
Apparently getting platinum three times for his rock music means he's more than just good, unless by good as in unsuccessful.
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I agree, if you've sold a lot of records, you're good. The masses always have good taste.

Speaking of Budweiser, King of Beers amirite?
 
Wierdo said:
WTF, never heard of Bryan Adams!?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Adams
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Just out of curiosity, did Bryan Adams actually make it big in Canada and then hit the world that way? Or did he start in Canada, then go out into the world (ok I'll say it... the US) then make it big?

To me it's a big distinction when saying "did anything good come out of Canada", akin to Jim Carrey, yeah he's Canadian, yeah he did some jokes in Canada but he made it big in the US, and it was the US that made him big.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Just out of curiosity, did Bryan Adams actually make it big in Canada and then hit the world that way? Or did he start in Canada, then go out into the world (ok I'll say it... the US) then make it big?

To me it's a big distinction when saying "did anything good come out of Canada", akin to Jim Carrey, yeah he's Canadian, yeah he did some jokes in Canada but he made it big in the US, and it was the US that made him big.
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What you're basically saying is that America puts the polish on Canadian artists and I tend to agree. You can say that about any of their culture really. American influence is like the paint on their blank canvas, the mold and pigment to their gray clay, or the peanut butter and jelly on their white bread.

They're lucky to have such a wonderful country holding them up really.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
I agree, if you've sold a lot of records, you're good. The masses always have good taste.

Speaking of Budweiser, King of Beers amirite?
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Ah yes, non-conformism, fight the power. Though half the time a good point, sometimes it gets abused by some that go out of their way to "rise above the mainstream" so to speak.

This is getting kinda off-topic.
 
I have two things to say regarding the off-topic stuff in this thread:

1) I work at a microbrewery in Calgary, and while most Canadians cherish beer as an unofficial national beverage, commercial product (just like south of the border) is generally awful, and shouldn't even really be called beer.

2) There are a large number of fantastic musicians coming out of Canuckistan, they just don't get any exposure in the US. Examples: Wintersleep, Deep Dark Woods, Mother Mother, Rural Alberta Advantage, etc...

This PSA was brought to you by (good) beer and (good) music.
 
Wierdo said:
Ah yes, non-conformism, fight the power. Though half the time a good point, sometimes it gets abused by some that go out of their way to "rise above the mainstream" so to speak.

This is getting kinda off-topic.
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It has nothing to do with non-conformity. I'm just pointing out that the perceived quality of music is subjective. Popularity is not a determinant factor in that equation, so making an appeal to the popular viewpoint (record sales) is as rash and erroneous as asserting said music isn't quality based on the inverse.

Anyway. I think these Canadian artists are onto something here. I'll check out some of their music and see if they deserve my money.
 
DeathPrincess said:
After Adams, Dion, Lavigne (however it's spelt), Morissette, beiber, twain, furtado, buble etc. and things like rush and nickelback, canada's pop musicians had a lot to answer for. This has gone part of the way to mending these deep deep wounds. :p
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cbc3radio, Canada has a TON of great music, of EVERY genre. Dan Mangan, Tokyo Police Club, Joel Plaskett, Handsome Furs, MSTRKRFT...... just to name a scant few.
 
If you guys can't bother to list Neil Young think I don't think any of you should have any authority on music :p
 
File sharing has never been illegal in the USA.

You might catch the interest of lawyers for the intellectual property owners that want to sue you for copyright infringement though.

Illegal refers to criminal law. Getting sued is civil law.

Journalism ain't what it used to be. :p
 
Great, besides Bryan Adams (who to be fair had some good songs early in his career), that leaves you with the Connel's and Nickleback...I almost forgot Snow, Canada's answer to Vanilla Ice:(
 
Hamish Campbell said:
What you're basically saying is that America puts the polish on Canadian artists and I tend to agree. You can say that about any of their culture really. American influence is like the paint on their blank canvas, the mold and pigment to their gray clay, or the peanut butter and jelly on their white bread.

They're lucky to have such a wonderful country holding them up really.
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Ha ha ha, that's an A1 troll.
 
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