Industry Committee on June 5th, 2018

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

A lot of these small stations were bought up, and they've been amalgamated. Would you like us to say that if you're a small, stand-alone station and you make less than x amount of dollars, you don't get the...? What exactly would you like to see happen?

[Alan Willaert]

Personally, and this is my particular view, I would like to see it put into place the way it was originally intended, where anybody with less than $1.25 million in advertising revenue was exempted from the tariff.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

If you have less than $1.25 million, you're exempted, but if you're part of a big corporation.... Because what they've done is bought them all up and they apply it for each little one.

[Alan Willaert]

That's correct, but you still have college radio, for instance.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

You want to make sure that it doesn't apply to them.

[Alan Willaert]

That's correct.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Okay.

Just so I understand, I'll summarize. You'd like to see the exemption stay for the small college radios, and things like that, but where these have been amalgamated and it's a big corporation with a number of small stations or medium-sized stations across, they don't need that exemption.

[Alan Willaert]

That's correct, yes.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

And the exemption is for the first bit of money. They still pay, so it's just that first carve-out. They should pay from dollar one.

[Alan Willaert]

Yes.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Okay.

You mentioned something about notice and take down, and that it is something in the United States. Can you elaborate on that?

[Alan Willaert]

Yes. Canada's Copyright Act, of course, has the notice and notice. With streaming now being able to be hacked and recorded and downloaded with software, it's more important than ever to be able to identify those perpetrators who are infringing on copyright. The way to really stop that is the notice and take down system where we could just stop that.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

The notice and take down, is that from the United States?

[Alan Willaert]

It's within their copyright act, yes.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Can you explain to us how that works?

[Alan Willaert]

Essentially, if infringement is identified, then a notice is given to stop this, and if it continues, then their access is shut down.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

They're shut down by whom?

[Alan Willaert]

By the Internet provider.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

If a notice has been given to an infringing party and they don't act, then the Internet provider is given a notice that it has to shut them down. Is that it?

[Alan Willaert]

Yes, correct.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

What happens in Canada?

[Alan Willaert]

Right now it's just continually notice after notice after notice. There is no final solution, if you will.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

So you'd like to see that....

You have something to add, Ms. McGuffin?

[Margaret McGuffin]

My colleagues in the U.S. are also concerned, though, about notice and notice. It's notice and take down in the U.S., but it hasn't been effective and has given safe harbour to.... It's a game of whack-a-mole, so even if there is a take down it's not the strong enough remedy that you need to actually get bad players to come to the table to negotiate and pay royalties.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

So the notice and take down in the United States is not working.