Madam Speaker, the motion of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage before the House today arrives at an opportune moment. These issues raised are important to Canadians and we welcome this debate.
As my hon. colleagues will remember, our government announced in the Speech from the Throne earlier last month that it would take steps to strengthen laws governing intellectual property in copyright. The committee's motion presents a valuable and timely opportunity for us to begin our discussions in this area.
I would like to remind the House that our government has pledged its commitment to helping Canadians succeed and meet the emerging challenges of the global and digital economy. We believe that innovation, collaboration and creativity must be the foundation of any such efforts. Let us celebrate and build on the fact that through the efforts of individuals and businesses from across our great country we are bringing innovative ideas, products and processes to the world stage.
Our country's work should and is recognized as effective, powerful, innovative and of the highest quality. It is for this reason that our government has made the unprecedented investments in business innovation and creativity through Canada's economic action plan. These investments will help Canadians build an economy that will provide prosperity and jobs for both today and tomorrow. However, to do this, Canadians must be able to develop the knowledge and skills they need to create and take advantage of economic opportunities. Of these, one of our government's priorities is to capitalize on the opportunities offered by the digital economy.
As we all know, technological change is occurring at an unprecedented speed and intensity. We cannot afford to simply be reactive as we are presented with both the opportunities and the challenges posed by increasingly rapid technological change. The question becomes: How do we secure our place as a world leader in an ever increasingly competitive marketplace?
Canada needs to be at the forefront of these new markets, ready and equipped to benefit from the opportunities it creates. That is why our Conservative government is working to ensure that our legislative and regulatory approach is conducive to supporting these businesses. We want to ensure that Canadian businesses are equipped to deal with the challenges posed and take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital revolution with strong intellectual property laws that encourage new ideas and protect the rights of Canadians.
Our government recognizes that updated copyright legislation will strengthen Canada's ability to compete in the global digital economy and contribute to our cultural and civic life. As such, we are committed to modifying the laws governing intellectual property and copyright with the ultimate goal of creating an environment that encourages the creation of new ideas and contributes to economic prosperity overall.
I will take a moment here to remind the House that industries touched by copyright account for 4.5% of our gross domestic product and employ 5.5% of our workforce. These are industries that are creating wealth and value where none existed before. This is why our government is committed to helping ensure our copyright laws are designed in a way that the ingenuity of Canada's best and brightest can continue to flourish. We will foster creativity, innovation and economic growth by giving Canadian creators and consumers the tools they need to keep Canada competitive internationally.
The field of copyright is very complex and there are many players who have a wide variety of views and interests. Our government must consider and balance these interests as we move forward to a modernized copyright law.
Our government wanted to take the opportunity to listen to what Canadians had to say about why copyright is important to them. In the summer of 2009, we took the initiative and demonstrated leadership within the current copyright debate by holding eight weeks of public consultations on copyright reform. Our process allowed interested Canadians to have their say in discussions of Canada's copyright law. We hosted events right across our great country.
Furthermore, we leveraged new technologies to reach out and consult with a greater number of Canadians as effectively as possible through our interactive website.
The participation was unprecedented and we welcomed the comments of rights holders, users, intermediaries and everyday Canadians.
We know that Canadians are concerned with copyright and its implications in our increasingly digital environment. This was demonstrated by the thousands of Canadians who took the time to participate in one way or another.
I will remind my colleagues of the scope of participation in this process. In total, we received more than 8,000 formal written submissions from organizations and individuals across the country, while over 1,000 Canadians attended live events, which included both public town halls and stakeholder round tables, across the country, in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Peterborough, Gatineau, Montreal, City of Quebec and Halifax, at which they were able to offer their views.
The most easily accessible way to participate was an interactive website that received more than 30,000 unique visits. More than 2,200 visitors registered as users and they collectively left more than 2,500 comments on the site through an online forum. The online forum allowed site visitors to create their own threads of discussion and views and comment on what others had to say. I am pleased to tell members that this was quite a lively discussion that explored the issues associated with copyright.
Participants were asked questions to determine their personal interest in copyright law and how they believed the law should be strengthened in light of that interest. They were asked how copyright laws should reflect Canadian values and interests. They were asked how these laws might better foster innovation and creativity. They were asked what sorts of copyright changes would best foster competition and investment. They also were asked what kinds of changes would best position Canada as a leader in the global digital economy.
Let me emphasize that this open and transparent process will help us to deliver new legislation that is forward-looking and reflects Canadian values.
The feedback we have received on the consultations has been very positive and the level of debate is one of which we are very proud. Much as the standing committee's motion suggests, the Canadian private copying regime is an issue of interest which was discussed during the consultations. The motion before us bears directly on that regime's future. I will take a moment to expand upon it here.
The Canadian private copying regime was created 13 years ago through the 1997 copyright reforms. It was designed to deal with the challenges stemming from new technology. With better technology, Canadians could easily make and use copies of music in their possession. Making such copies without the copyright holder's explicit consent was illegal.
This created a situation in which individuals regularly flouted the law, even if they were not aware of this. This also meant that rights holders were not being compensated for the use of the work to which they held the copyright. The solution was to place a levy on the blank media consumers use to make copies and then distribute this money to copyright holders. This solution was known as the Canadian private copying regime and its legal basis was set forth in the Copyright Act.
Under the private copying regime, the copyright holders of sound recordings are entitled to receive compensation drawn out of the moneys collected against blank media. The regime also allows Canadians to make copies of audio works for their personal use without infringing copyright law.
To manage the operation of the regime, the Copyright Board of Canada authorized a body known as the Canadian Private Copying Collective. Based out of Toronto, this non-profit agency is an umbrella organization that represents songwriters, recording artists, music publishers and record companies. The Canadian Private Copying Collective receives moneys arising from the levies and distributes these to copyright holders. To date, the Canadian Private Copying Collective states that it has distributed over $180 million to copyright holders in the music sector.
As with many other elements of the Copyright Act, the Canadian private copying regime has always been the subject of debate. It is important to note that technological changes that occurred since the creation of the regime 13 years ago had added new elements to the debate. Various technological developments mean that one does not necessarily need to purchase blank media to make copies anymore.
Needless to say, there are many views around how this might be addressed. Our government believes it is important that we consider all these views when contemplating possible solutions. In our consultations in the summer of 2009, the views we heard on the future of Canadian private copying regime were many and varied. Issues such as compensation for copyright holders, flexibility, reasonableness and clarity were all discussed.
There were some who would like to see the act amended, as indeed the committee report proposes, such that a tax may also be charged on digital recording devices, such as MP3 players and other media recorders, computers, cell phones, et cetera. The opposition coalition's proposed tax would equal up to $80 per iPod and MP3 player for Canadian consumers.
The viability of the regime in light of the new technological developments needs to be revisited and re-examined. We need to develop changes that can encourage new business models. Many of those who were consulted were eager to defend their right to continue to use electronic files in their possession and to transfer these files to new media, such as MP3 players, without paying additional fees.
In short, some have come to expect that the market will give consumers a wider variety of material in formats that are both more convenient and less expensive than what is currently available.
We need to examine how we can maintain protection of artists' rights and their ability to receive payments for use of their work while avoiding an additional tax on consumers. Canadians also expect that our copyright laws will continue to foster economic growth by providing incentives to our best and brightest to continue to create.
As we go forward in our consideration of this legislation, I encourage this House to keep all these points in mind, particularly how the proposed amendment fits into the larger copyright domain. We need to keep our eye on the bigger picture and the work our government has already begun well before the adoption of the motion.
We look forward to discussing these issues during this debate. Thanks to the consultations, we are now equipped with a wide variety of points of view as we turn our attention to preparing copyright legislation. This is essential because we know that technology will continue to develop. It will not be enough to simply amend the act to respond to each new challenge presented to us by technology.
Let us proceed together to update and strengthen our copyright law in a way that will strengthen Canadians' ability to compete in the global digital economy. Moreover, let us work to enhance their ability to continue to make their significant contribution to our cultural and civic life.