Evidence of meeting #15 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 music.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
For the music industry, this bill is not even the status quo; it is a setback.
Vice-President and Executive Director, Public Affairs, Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ)
Yes.
Liberal
Vice-President, Legal Services and General Counsel, Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada
The bill needs work.
Vice-President, Legal Services and General Counsel, Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada
It needs probably considerable work, and not just for the music industry. There are other sectors in the copyright and creative industries that are impacted by the bill. It's not just the music industry.
Liberal
Vice-President, Legal Services and General Counsel, Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada
We need amendments.
Vice-President, Legal Services and General Counsel, Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada
Absolutely.
Director, Board of Directors, Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada
I agree with all the previous speakers that we need amendments. The three-step test is a major component of that, in my view.
Vice-President, Songwriters Association of Canada
Just briefly: amendments first, bill second.
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Okay.
So you all agree that the bill needs major amendments. We all agree on that.
What should be the main amendments? We won't go into details, because there are so many things to amend, I agree, but name one or two things.
Vice-President, Legal Services and General Counsel, Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada
The three-step test is important because the government has created over 40 brand-new exceptions and limitations. It has created a couple of rights--one for photographers, and a few others--but essentially it's an exception and limitation bill.
Let's make sure we can provide judges with guidance, so when they interpret those exceptions and limitations they'll know what they're doing. The three-step test will give judges the guidance they wouldn't have, because it's not in the law. It's in the treaty, but as the lawyers here know, it has to be a self-executing treaty.
Vice-President and Executive Director, Public Affairs, Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ)
I very much enjoyed the presentation made by my colleague Gilles Valiquette, as well as the one from the SAC, both of which clearly demonstrate that people working in the music industry are all small entrepreneurs, both artists and production companies. We are all small entrepreneurs.
As I said in my presentation that I was unable to complete, we cannot understand, in that case, why small cultural entrepreneurs are not receiving the same attention as in other cases where the fate of small entrepreneurs is at stake. We ask that committee members bear that in mind as they consider amendments to the bill. These are the most important amendments, as I see it, because they take away acquired rights. I am talking about broadcast mechanical rights. Taking a right away from us that we currently have will mean a loss of $8 million or $9 million for those who… Those royalties have already been collected. And then there is the private copying regime which I think… And the example I cited earlier of France, which is currently considering imposing a royalty on iPads. Yet we are saying there will be no royalties on MP3 players. I simply cannot understand how we could be so completely out of step with everyone else. Those are certainly the most important ones--
Liberal
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Thank you.
Since I only have a few seconds left, I will be brief. With respect to accountability on the part of Internet service providers, do you think the notice-to-notice principle is enough? If not, why is that approach not appropriate?
Vice-President and Executive Director, Public Affairs, Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ)
No. But I can't provide any more of an explanation in five seconds.
Liberal
Conservative
Bloc
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
First of all, I'd like to say that I'm surprised to see so many witnesses here for a single sitting. The committee had decided to only invite three, in order to give them a reasonable amount of time to answer—in other words, more than a few seconds. I do hope that if you feel you need additional time to explain your position, each of you will ask the clerk to be invited back. I'm sure he will agree.
Let's come back now to the subject at hand. As I was saying earlier, there are too many people here. By the way, the witnesses from SODRAC were cancelled at the last minute. You could have had them here with you, since you are all from the music industry. The difference between the witnesses we heard from earlier and yourselves is that the first group was here representing primarily the broadcasters. It was the Canadian Recording Industry Association. Mr. Henderson usually represents the broadcasters.
