Yes.
Evidence of meeting #14 for Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was films.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #14 for Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was films.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I want to drill down into that a little bit more.
Would you agree with me that in order to allow the circumvention of digital locks, you would also have to change this bill to allow the manufacture, distribution, and sale of circumvention measures?
12:55 p.m.
Executive Director, Documentary Organization of Canada
There has to be a way to access it.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
All right. Would you assume, then, that consumers of the content and those using it as you would will have to acquire those kinds of technologies to circumvent the digital locks?
1 p.m.
Executive Director, Documentary Organization of Canada
I think that's a fair assumption.
1 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
All right. Now that they're legal in Canada, you would expect that more and more consumers would purchase these circumvention measures in order to access fair dealing.
1 p.m.
Executive Director, Documentary Organization of Canada
Again, you're talking about the consumer. I'm talking about the documentary filmmaker.
1 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Okay. Let's talk about both, meaning those who are going to access the information they need.
Of course, not everyone in Canada is honest. There are going to be those who say that it's legal to buy this now, so I'm going to use these technological inventions to circumvent these digital locks. Because I'm not honest, I'm going to actually cheat, and now I'm breaking locks for a purpose not permitted under the act. Eventually you have this group within our society who are actually causing a problem for those who create the content and hold the copyright, which means it's much more expensive for them to enforce their rights.
I assume you've read Bill C-32, so you're aware that under clause 47, proposed item 41.21(2)(a)(iii) gives the minister a broad discretion to make regulations to ease up on some of those anti-circumvention provisions. I'd like to read at least that item for you, just for the record.
Proposed subsection 41.21(2) says:
The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) prescribing additional circumstances in which paragraph 41.1(1)(a) does not apply, having regard to the following factors:
(iii) whether not being permitted to circumvent a technological protection measure that is subject to that paragraph could adversely affect criticism, review, news reporting, commentary, parody, satire, teaching, scholarship or research that could be made or done in respect of the work, the performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or the sound recording,
That's what the bill says. Essentially what it says is that we understand that at this time you're not allowed to break digital locks, but the minister has the right to make the regulations; he doesn't have to go back to Parliament for a legislative change. As the industries develop, as we gain more experience with this new legislation, the minister has the flexibility to adapt and to pass regulations that allow industries such as yours to benefit from some of the content that you'd like to access and that digital locks prevent.
So you're aware of that legislation?
1 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gord Brown
Move quickly, please; we have to wind up. I'll give you 15 seconds.
1 p.m.
Executive Director, Documentary Organization of Canada
My response is that you have the opportunity now to build that mechanism into the bill. I would suggest that this is a good time to do so.
1 p.m.
Conservative
1 p.m.
Conservative