Evidence of meeting #121 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was content.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Terry Sheehan Liberal Sault Ste. Marie, ON
It was a certain province. I'm not going to get into that, but it was that.... Nowadays, the new pirates, the ones who are not going into the theatres but are somehow hacking into the system and pulling out the content, which countries would be they be from?
International Vice-President and Director of Canadian Affairs, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
In terms of where it originates from—
International Vice-President and Director of Canadian Affairs, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
—no, but as David mentioned, that's why the FairPlay application is there, because there are no borders. This is digital. They can go anywhere, originate anywhere, and broadcast anywhere. In terms of where they're acquiring the pirated materials, I'm not aware of stats for the locations.
Liberal
Terry Sheehan Liberal Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Okay.
The cease-and-desist notice isn't working because people are just ignoring it? There are no teeth to it.
International Vice-President and Director of Canadian Affairs, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
There's no consequence.
Liberal
Terry Sheehan Liberal Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Okay. There's no consequence.
My last little bit—I only have a couple of seconds—is for you, Artisti. You noted that you were formed in 1997. I saw that there was a recommendation in 1997 to change the $1.25 billion on the first bit of advertising. Was that $1.25 billion the number in 1997? Is that still the number today?
General Manager, Artisti
In fact, Artisti was created in 1997, following the changes that were made to the act to introduce equitable compensation rights and the right to remuneration for private copying. At that time, the Union des artistes, which is a type of union, created its own collective management firm in order to be able to give performing artists in the music sector the opportunity of collecting the royalties introduced in 1997, that is to say the equitable compensation rights and the remuneration for private copying.
Regarding the exemption for the first $1.25 million, I must say that at the time, broadcasters were rather unhappy that they would from then on have to pay equitable compensation royalties. That exemption was probably introduced at the broadcasters' request.
Despite that, now that several years have gone by, we see that radio is an industry that continues to function and to generate large revenues. That is why we say that there is no longer any rationale for that exemption in the law.
Liberal
Conservative
Dane Lloyd Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB
Thank you.
Forgive me, I'm a little bit sick, but I'll try to get my questions out.
Mr. Lewis, I'm curious about your comment. Your solution, which FairPlay Canada has asked for, is to block these websites from Canadians. I'm aware there's technology available that allows you to block your IP address, a VPN blocker, and to say that your signal is coming from the United States, for example. I know a number of people use that to get American Netflix in Canada.
What is your comment on that? Is there a way to solve that runaround, which would undermine your comment?
International Vice-President and Director of Canadian Affairs, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
I'm not sure of the technology. I am aware of it, but I am not sure how easy it is to circumvent the system by using that. I'm just not aware of that.
Conservative
Dane Lloyd Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB
I'm just worried that, if we were to implement that, it would be such an easy workaround to pretend to be in a foreign country—although I'm sure it would catch some people. Maybe we can get some further information on that. We'll look into it.
Mr. Sheehan took my question related to the culprits. You noted that about 1.88 billion sites have been visited by Canadians.
International Vice-President and Director of Canadian Affairs, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
Yes.
Conservative
Dane Lloyd Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB
You sort of answered this, but is the content mostly coming from foreign countries or is this Canadian pirating content?
International Vice-President and Director of Canadian Affairs, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
The Canadian production Letterkenny is pirated. We have productions made in Canada that are—
Conservative
Dane Lloyd Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB
I mean the pirates. Are the pirating websites Canadian-based websites?
International Vice-President and Director of Canadian Affairs, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
I think Pirate Bay at one time was based in Canada, and they have been a very flexible and very transient group. I think they were based in Vancouver. Other than that, I'm not sure, but they were one of the largest players as well.
There's all this discussion of Netflix, and there's always this comment that they're not pulling their fair share. I know that the CRTC and a new committee are going to be focused on that. We shouldn't also forget that next to Warner Bros., they're probably the largest producer of product in Canada as well. I know this sometimes gets lost in questions about whether they're contributing to the industry, adding value, and everything else. They're going to have the largest production in Montreal this year. I just wish that sometimes it was better known that they are a big contributor to our industry.
Conservative
Dane Lloyd Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB
Thank you. I appreciate that.
My next question is for Ms. Morin or Ms. Prégent.
You talked about exceptions being problematic. Can you describe which exceptions, in your mind, are the most problematic?
General Manager, Artisti
I'd like to mention two exceptions that were included in the law in 2012 and that complicate the situation enormously when it comes to consumers' choices.
In 1997, a private copy regime was adopted to allow consumers to reproduce music in the privacy of their homes. This was already being done quite commonly. Everyone has probably made or owned a recording of various songs they listened to in their cars on their way to the cottage or elsewhere. In 1997, the government determined that people would from then on be allowed to make such recordings for their own personal use, but that creators would be paid a royalty for every blank audio recording medium that was sold.
Unfortunately, the court decided that blank audio recording media did not include digital audio devices. That is why that royalty only applies now to blank CDs, a medium that is used less and less, it must be said.
In 2012, an exception was included in the Copyright Act to make it possible to copy music using devices that were not already covered under the private copy regime. In other words, it became legal to make copies on your iPod, if there are still any around, or using your iPhone. However, as opposed to what was done quite judiciously in 1997, when the decision was made to compensate creators for copies of their work, no compensation was provided for in 2012. That is unfortunate.
An exception was also included in the act for cases where people record a program in order to watch it later. There again, unfortunately, no payment was included in the act to compensate creators for this use of their work.
Ephemeral recordings made by broadcasters for their broadcast activities were also included. As I explained...
Conservative
Dane Lloyd Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB
If I may interrupt, I'm familiar with some things in television where you can record programming to watch at a later time. Is that an issue or are the broadcasters compensated for that?
General Manager, Artisti
If people made copies using their tape recorders, for instance, the private copy regime did not apply. Audiovisual devices are not covered in any case. That is not included in our legislation. However, it is in other countries, such as France, where private copy royalties are paid when films are copied. We don't have that in Canada.
Conservative
Dane Lloyd Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB
But like Bell and Rogers, they have their own recorders that they can record their programs with, but that's not a problem you're saying? It's people using a personal recorder at home?
General Manager, Artisti
As to that precise aspect, if Bell or other companies provide the means to make recordings, the cost of accessing that service may include costs to compensate for that, which may be included in people's subscription fees. I don't know how things work in that sector. As I said, we unfortunately do not manage audiovisual rights, as there aren't any for the time being.
