Evidence of meeting #9 for Bill C-11 (41st Parliament, 1st Session) in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was copyright.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Ferne Downey  National President, Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, Recording Artists' Collecting Society
Warren Sheffer  Lawyer, Hebb & Sheffer, Recording Artists' Collecting Society
Martha Rans  Legal Director, Artists' Legal Outreach
Michael Eisen  Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft Canada Co.
Jesse Feder  Director, International Trade and Intellectual Property, Business Software Alliance

5:45 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Glenn Thibeault

Ms. Rans, I have to interrupt you for one second.

Ms. Rans still has about three minutes. I'm going to ask for unanimous consent of the committee to let Ms. Rans complete her statement, and we'll go from there.

Do I have unanimous consent?

5:45 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yes.

5:45 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Glenn Thibeault

Please continue.

5:45 p.m.

Legal Director, Artists' Legal Outreach

Martha Rans

Thank you.

What artists want is to communicate with those who want to enjoy and use their work.

As proposed, Bill C-11 invites litigation in many areas. The burdens of litigation bring fear, confusion, and unintended costs—costs this government and the people of this country will bear. They could create problems where none need to exist and could delay the progress that has been made in best practices.

Will Bill C-11 enable transformative works and alternative distribution networks, as well as provide streams of remuneration through digital reproduction in collective societies? You need to answer that question.

The norms that underlie copyright should be the ones that enable Canadian culture to flourish, help artists make a reasonable living and reach an audience at the same time—not as an either/or proposition—allow for less restrictive personal and educational reuses, and maybe, take a step away from intellectual property solely as commodity exchange and towards meaningful cultural conversations.

Thank you.

5:45 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Glenn Thibeault

Thank you, Ms. Rans.

Thank you to all of the guests and witnesses for being here today. I do apologize for not having time for questions, but we at least got to hear your presentations and testimony, which will be considered by the committee.

Again, thank you.

The least we can do is to offer for you, and everyone here, to have some food on us. Please, eat the meals that are at the back.

To the committee members very quickly, at Monday's meeting we're starting clause by clause, from 3:30 to 6:30. The notice will go out as to where the meeting is.

Also, the amendments to Bill C-11 should be submitted to the clerk 24 hours prior to clause-by-clause consideration and distributed to members in both official languages, so that's Friday by 5 p.m., to the clerk.

March 7th, 2012 / 5:45 p.m.

Liberal

Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS

We start on Monday, do we? Sorry, I missed—

5:45 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Glenn Thibeault

We start clause by clause on Monday. The time of the meeting is 3:30 on Monday.

Again, thank you to the witnesses. I hope you enjoy the sandwiches.

This meeting is now adjourned.