The Canadian Music Creators Coalition is disappointed in the approach reflected in the copyright reform bill announced on 2 June 2010. “Meaningful recognition of creator rights requires policy tools that encourage and support Canadian artists rather than multinational corporations” said Safwan Javed, CMCC member and drummer for Wide Mouth Mason. “By focusing its attention on users rather than creators, this Bill fails to do so.”

Critiques of previous Canadian approaches at copyright amendments have focused on the role played by the United States in dictating policy. In this latest bill, however, CMCC is concerned that the interests and voice of multinational corporations are being allowed to trump even those of the Canadian government. For example, the bill purports to allow format and time shifting. However, by putting DRM on their media, corporations are able to trump this approach and criminalize the actions of users.

Mr. Javed pointed to the 2009 public consultations on copyright and to the private members bill introduced in March 2010 by MP Charlie Angus as evidence of a growing public awareness of and interest in a model that realistically balances consumer experience of media with the interests of artists as he critiqued the failure of the bill to explore alternate means of regulation and support. For example, Section 18, the so-called BitTorrent section of the Bill, criminalizes music fans who engage in the common, widespread practice of using the internet to share music with their friends and families, regardless of profit motive or demonstrable economic loss. This heavy-handed approach has been a dismal failure in the US. Reliance on protecting content through criminal and civil law has slowed the development of functional legal business models for music sharing on the internet and has only provided new revenue streams to major record labels in the form of litigation proceeds, none of which trickle down to the artists those labels claim to represent.

It’s time we started exploring other options and working to build a truly Canadian approach to these quests” Javed said.

**About the Canadian Music Creators Coalition**

The CMCC is a coalition of nearly 200 Canadian acts who share the common goal of having our voices heard about the laws and policies that affect our livelihoods. Our membership rolls boast dozens of household names including Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLaughlin, Broken Social Scene, Matthew Good, Metric, Randy Bachman, Billy Talent, Sloan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41, Stars, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), The New Pornographers, Bill Henderson (Chilliwack), Ronnie King (The Stampeders), Dave Bidini (The Rheostatics), John K. Samson (Weakerthans), Three Days Grace, Andrew Cash and Sam Roberts. We are the people who actually create Canadian music – without us there would be no music for copyright laws to protect.

Until recently, a group of multinational record labels has done most of the talking about what Canadian artists need out of copyright and cultural policy. These legislative proposals facilitate lawsuits against fans and increase the labels’ control over the enjoyment of music. These proposals have the labels’ interests at heart, not artists’ interests, not fans’ interests, and certainly not Canada’s interests.

The CMCC grew out of our common desire to speak out in Canadian copyright and cultural policy debates. 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 and must not 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 music to other formats with a fear of prosecution.

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.

*For Further Information Contact Safwan Javed c/o CMCC Communications: musiccreators@gmail.com

Another year, another list of CMCC members nominated for Juno Awards.  This year, four members of the Canadian Music Creators Coalition have been nominated for a total of eight Junos including Sam Roberts (for Artist of the Year, Rock Album of the Year for Love at the End of the World, and two Video of the Year nominations: for Detroit ’67 and Them Kids); Feist (who is nominated for the Juno Fan Choice Award and Video of the Year for Honey Honey) Sloan (Rock Album of the Year for Parallel Play) and The Barenaked Ladies (Children’s Album of the Year for Snacktime!).

Congratulations to all the nominated artists who show that commercial success and an interest in artist self-representation can, and do, go hand in hand.