I'm aware of that, yes.
Evidence of meeting #38 for Canadian Heritage in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was copyright.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #38 for Canadian Heritage in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was copyright.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:45 p.m.
Director General, Telecommunications Policy Branch, Department of Industry
They're just over $1.5 million, so I think you will be seeing connectivity coming to your area.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
4:45 p.m.
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
4:45 p.m.
Director General, Telecommunications Policy Branch, Department of Industry
In terms of the remaining gap, I think it remains a given that the last 2% is the hardest to reach. It's always been that way. It was the way with the traditional telephone system. It's the most challenging geography and the least dense population, so that even with a subsidy, the business case remains problematic.
We're hopeful that technology will do a lot in the future. There are high-speed satellites that are coming on board, and a number of providers, such as Barrett Xplore, will be using this technology. The satellite technology will significantly improve in speeds and pricing. We remain hopeful that the technology and the private sector will improve to the point that the business case will improve for those areas. The caveat is that there are always going to be those hard-to-reach areas.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Blake Richards Conservative Wild Rose, AB
That's understandable. I recognize this every day when I travel in my riding. There are still areas in my riding where cellphone coverage is impossible; that's just a fact. As I mentioned, we have some minor details such as the Rocky Mountains and things like that.
The next area I'd like to talk about is in relation to the Copyright Act. During the course of the study, there were many mentions of the Copyright Act and the current legislation. With the whole direction of digital media and all the developments that are taking place there, I'm curious what your thoughts are on how important an updated Copyright Act will be and what sorts of issues might result if the legislation were not to be updated.
4:45 p.m.
Director General, Copyright Policy, Department of Canadian Heritage
During the copyright consultations in 2009 there was a clear message from the round tables, the town hall meetings, and online discussions that it's important to ensure that Canada's copyright laws are forward-looking, flexible, and in line with current international standards. Many comments were received that creators need new tools to remain creative, innovative, and competitive internationally. We also heard that modern legislation needs to recognize new habits in consuming and creating cultural content that have emerged as a result of the digital media you're studying here.
In general, the marketplace thrives when there are clear, predictable, and fair rules that enable all parties to engage with confidence. The Copyright Act is an important piece of that framework law for the marketplace.
I can't speculate myself on what will happen if the legislation is not updated, but I can give you a few examples of the kinds of concerns we've heard from others if it is not updated.
Online piracy has certainly been raised by a broad range of stakeholders as an issue in moving their businesses online in Canada. Publishers and the film industry come to mind in particular. Our current law does not have provisions that address explicitly the enabling of online piracy.
From a consumer perspective, the technologically specific treatment of “personal use” and a limited coverage of activities creates uncertainty for Canadians who wish to engage fully in the digital environment.
The last example is very specific: photographers have said that under the Copyright Act as it stands, they are at a competitive disadvantage in the global market for stock photography. This is due in part to the treatment of photographers as authors or first owners of copyright under the current Copyright Act. It's a very specific challenge with this law that needs to be modernized.
4:50 p.m.
Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, Department of Industry
I agree with all of that, but I would add one other area in which we heard from stakeholders. Educational institutions, educators, and students said that they needed more flexibility to use copyright material in support of learning.
These are some examples of things that are in the bill in that regard: the expansion of the definition of fair dealing to recognize education in a structured context as a legitimate purpose for fair dealing; enabling teachers to connect with students in remote communities across the country through technology-enhanced learning, and using copyrighted material in the process; allowing institutions to offer the same opportunities, for example, to students in Nunavut as to students in Edmonton; and taking measures to ensure that libraries, archives, and museums are able to preserve records that contain copyrighted content for future generations.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
February 2nd, 2011 / 4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
The study is about opportunities and challenges, and I wanted to pull those two together, because this is where the catch-22 comes in of people not knowing where to go. The opportunities of the digital media are extraordinary: anywhere in the world people can have information, knowledge, learning, and content. It can be anything you can think of--any information, any entertainment.
This is an important opportunity we don't want to miss. I think it's the greatest thing since the printing press was invented, but the challenges that come with it are what I am hoping, out of this meeting, we would be able to square. It seems to be a difficult circle to square, and how we do that is what I wanted to pursue in my line of questioning.
For instance, I was glad to read in your presentation, which I think is good, that access to broadband is being widened and that the government has a progressive policy on widening it. Growing of broadband is good, but you were asked by my colleague, Mr. Scarpaleggia, about what places you can turn to. While access to broadband and to Internet and to digital media is important, the question is, what happens when you have that access? The challenge, therefore, is how you allow all of this. The Justin Biebers of the world, in a little basement, come up with a grand, wonderful design, get it out there using this brand new piece of technology, and hit the world with a bang. That's the wonderful thing about it.
The challenge is how people who are using it--the Justin Biebers of the world, and anyone who uses the technology to reach this global audience--can maintain their copyright, their own creative content, their intellectual property. It has to be challenged, and I don't know how we're doing on that.
It's my understanding that the United Kingdom has been moving forward and is not just pursuing digitalization, but getting ahead of it. We're pursuing it still. The thing is that every day, even while I'm speaking to you now, something new is going on. Something is happening, something is changing, and we keep trying to shove the toothpaste back into the tube. I wondered whether there are lessons we can learn from what they're doing in the United Kingdom.
I wanted to apply that question very specifically to the CBC, given that the CBC is a public broadcaster and has to depend very much on government funding to bring it fully into the use of digital media for disseminating and marketing its content, as we see the BBC has been doing throughout the world. Everywhere you go you can pick up BBC on the digital media. You can't do that with CBC yet. We know that our ability is hampered because we don't have market distribution. Could this digital world be used by the CBC for distribution? Could CBC be our distributor using digitization? How do we pay for it? Do you have a plan to help them because they don't have the same access to market funding as the other market-based broadcasters?
The other question I want to ask is whether there is any intent to look at the Broadcasting Act, because these are now broadcast media. Broadcast media is no longer radio and television; broadcast media is Justin Bieber sitting in the thing and using digital media to go out there to reach everybody. Are we looking at this in a proactive way? Are we asking whether we should look at the Broadcasting Act? Is there something we can do to take advantage of the opportunity while dealing with some of the challenges of intellectual property?
I haven't even gone into moral rights. You take something Justin Bieber did and then go and play with it in the basement, and it turns out something brand new, but you're using Justin's intellectual property and tickling it to make something new. That is about intellectual property; it's about moral rights. We have not talked about moral rights in this country, but I know that Europe has dealt with moral rights.
How are we going to deal with all of this? These are difficult questions, I know. I'm asking you to go “blue sky” and be creative in your thinking.
4:55 p.m.
Director General, Copyright Policy, Department of Canadian Heritage
Thank you very much. I'll try to be really brief in highlighting the fact that Bill C-32 actually introduces new rights and protections for creators in the digital environment. The specific purpose of the bill is to deal with the digital environment, so to respond to your Justin Bieber question, under Bill C-32 he would have a new “making available” right, which would allow him to have a right—
4:55 p.m.
Director General, Copyright Policy, Department of Canadian Heritage
—to control how his works are made available online.
With regard to moral rights, those rights exist under the current Copyright Act for authors. Under Bill C-32, those rights are extended to performers.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
But they're not extended to a whole lot of other people. I know this is something they've been writing to me about. People are concerned about it. There are models we can look at in legislation in Europe and in the U.K. for the CBC. Those are the two really important things I want answered if you can. I know it puts you in a difficult position, but if you can answer them, I'd be pleased.
4:55 p.m.
Director General, Broadcasting and Digital Communications Branch, Department of Canadian Heritage
The CBC and the BBC...?
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
Just look at how the BBC achieved what it has by embracing digital media, and how the CBC is having a difficult time doing it because of the lack of funding, and/or other reasons.
4:55 p.m.
Director General, Broadcasting and Digital Communications Branch, Department of Canadian Heritage
We look very closely at what the BBC and other public broadcasters are doing around the world. That is always part of our analysis in any advice we provide the minister on our public broadcaster. We have not yet studied in detail the plan that was released by the CBC yesterday. They plan to increase their investment in digital, and they speak about being quite proud of what they've done so far. I believe--I'd have to verify--that the CBC website is the most visited broadcasting website in Canada.
I'm not sure if I've fully answered the member's question.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
Have you studied the BBC and how they've done what they've done so successfully?
4:55 p.m.
Director General, Broadcasting and Digital Communications Branch, Department of Canadian Heritage
We have studied the BBC in great detail, along with Australian public broadcasting and public broadcasters around the world. The circumstances are all different. BBC is funded by citizens. It's done through taxes here, through government funding. It's an amount per television.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
I'm just wondering if there are best practices we can learn from other people. I think Francis touched on that a bit. I still haven't heard about moral rights, about bastardizing somebody's work.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre, BC
They addressed it to some extent, but the moral rights have been extended very narrowly. It's nowhere like what they have in European legislation, which is something we need to look at.
Thank you very much.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
