Maybe I’m just too close to the topic, but I think the upcoming copyright legislation changes are going to result in a massive political and legal ***storm. Maybe not – maybe the entire field of copyright experts are all blowing smoke. Just in case they’re not all wrong though, I wrote the following letter to Mr. Russ Hiebert to let him know that I’m concerned. Anyone else concerned should write their representative – seriously.
Dear Mr. Hiebert,
I hope the approaching holidays find you and your family well.
I wanted to let you know that I am deeply concerned about the manner in which the upcoming copyright reform bill has been and continues to be handled. Here are a few of the major concerns I have
1 – the legislation seems to have been written without any consultation beyond industry representatives. Copyright law is an important matter and public consultation surrounding changes should have occurred prior to a proposed bill. Thus far it seems as though the information flowing into the changes has been one-sided, and the public will be the ones to suffer because of this
2 – the DMCA in the U.S.A. has not been as successful as people had thought it might be. It seems like a mistake to try to emulate it within Canada. Technological barriers will always be torn down – trying to find a technological solution to social issues simply does not work
3 – copyright law has the ability to seriously inhibit creative expression from Canadian artists. I believe the artist’s rights should be respected to the extent that they wish them to be, not the extent to which industry wants to control them.
These issues are the ones on the tip of my tongue. The media coverage surrounding this bill paints a very poor picture of how your government is presenting these changes. Questions have been asked by the CBC, interested consumer advocate groups, and the public – yet your government has thus far refused to even initiate a discussion surrounding this issue. This makes the Canadian government look like industry shills and is an embarrassment.
I am apprehensive about the actual contents of the bill, how it is being handled by your government, and the resulting limitations on my current rights that it will introduce.
I urge you to please take the time to collect input from your constituents and champion our cause, not the cause of industry.
Thank you for your time,
Kirk Bridger
15827 Goggs Avenue
White Rock, BC
V4B 2P1
Since we all know email is so meaningless nowadays, I think I’ll print this up and send it to his office if I don’t hear back in a few days. So far though, his office has been fairly good about responding to emails. Remember – no postage required to send letters to members of parliament!