Yes. There are a few, in fact.
However, understand my situation. I'm not talking on my own behalf or on behalf of my company; I'm speaking on behalf of a coalition. So I'm not speaking for one sector, but for all sectors.
There is the exception of network services. In fact, these people have servers abroad or cloud servers. So there is the whole question of the scope of the Canadian act with respect to reproductions made elsewhere, but which essentially and exclusively serve Canadians. There is also the whole issue of transparency. We are told a lot that it is confidential, how much we can pay and how much income we can earn, but we are not given details in reports.
There is an exception for technological reproduction. Anything resulting from a technological reproduction is an exception under the act.
All these exceptions have a cumulative effect. In short, the giants tell us that they do not really need to sit down at the bargaining table, but they do so to show that they are serious, and they propose a minimal amount. For our part, we tell them that it is not enough. So they oppose, invoking one of the exceptions I just mentioned.
If, during the negotiation, we establish that this exception doesn't apply, then they will move to the second, then they will go to the third, then to the fourth. So there is this cumulative effect comparable to Gruyere cheese—think about the inside of that cheese—and it's very difficult for us, collectively, to sit down, regardless of the platform or sector we represent. The solution keeps coming back: the number of exceptions must be reduced, and they must be made clearer.
A case of technological reproduction was brought before the courts. Most users tell us that their activities are technological. The process, from a to z, is therefore an exception, since they are all reproductions resulting from a technological treatment.
It is this kind of excess that undermines any negotiation we may have with these people.