Canadian fundraiser embroils U.S. studios, labels
Fundraiser storm
Jan 4, 2006
TORONTO -- U.S. studios and music labels were drawn into the Canadian federal election fray Tuesday after coming under fire for a planned Jan. 19 fundraiser for a key Liberal member of Parliament.
The controversy follows Sarmite Bulte, a federal M.P. and parliamentary secretary for Canadian Heritage who has backed U.S.-style copyright laws, issuing an invitation for a CAN$250-a-plate fundraiser hosted by the Canadian Recording Industry Assn. and the Canadian Motion Pictures Distributors Assn. The event was scheduled to take place four days before Canadians vote for a new federal government on Jan. 23.
The CMPD, the CRIA and other copyright holders have long pushed Canada to tighten lax laws against copyright piracy. A copyright reform bill that Bulte helped write recently died when the ruling Liberal Party dissolved Parliament and called a national election for Jan. 23.
The CMPD, the CRIA and other copyright holders have long pushed Canada to tighten lax laws against copyright piracy. A copyright reform bill that Bulte helped write recently died when the ruling Liberal Party dissolved Parliament and called a national election for Jan. 23.
Bulte could not be reached for comment at press time, but her Web site heralds an "artists' and creators' " fundraiser in Toronto. Scheduled ntertainment includes Margo Timmins, lead singer of Canadian rock band the Cowboy Junkies and wife of CRIA president Graham Henderson.
"There's nothing happening here that isn't above board, where people support their champions. Artists and creators and people investing in them are investing in a champion, someone who is vocally supportive of the rights of creators to be protected," the CRIA's Henderson said of his organization's support for Bulte.
Other fundraiser sponsors helping to re-elect Bulte include the Canadian Publishers Council, the Entertainment Software Alliance and Stephen Stohn, a Toronto-based entertainment lawyer and TV producer ("Degrassi: The Next Generation").
Michael Geist, who holds the Canada research chair in Internet and E-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, on Tuesday said he was concerned that Bulte, a federal politician and former chair of the Canadian Heritage Standing Committee, was taking money from powerful U.S. interests just days before a national election.
"For Bulte to take contributions from a single group that represents one position in Canada's copyright reform debate sends the wrong signal about the impartiality of the copyright reform process," Geist said.
But the CMPDA's Frith insisted Canadian electoral laws allow his group and other copyright holders to participate in party fundraisers for Bulte and other parliamentary members. Also receiving contributions from U.S. interests are Bev Oda, a former Canadian broadcaster, TV regulator and current Ontario M.P. and culture critic for the opposition Conservative Party of Canada, and James Rajotte, another Conservative M.P.
Frith said the Jan. 19 fund-raiser for Bulte was prompted by new campaign financing laws requiring some M.P.s to delay some fund-raising activities for January because they had reached a cap on what they were allowed to raise in 2005.
The CMPDA boss added that divisions within the federal cabinet over toughening copyright laws had made coalition building in Ottawa more crucial than ever.
"Canada is beginning to look like the Libya of the OECD. The situation calls for copyright laws and more enforcement by police to put pirates out of business," Frith said.
Graham Henderson of the CRIA insisted his own lobbying efforts have been non-partisan. "This is an issue of principle, not party. We're delighted to find other parliamentarians who strongly support the rights of artists to be protected from theft," he said.
U.S. media interests in recent years have fought hard to compel Ottawa and the Canadian courts to stamp out copyright infringement here, whether from unregulated Internet streaming like iCraveTV.com during the mid-1990s, a black market in U.S. satellite dishes north of the border or illegal music downloading.
In the latest blow, the Federal Court of Appeal denied a bid by the CRIA to uncloak the identities of 29 alleged serial file sharers.
But the effort to protect copyright holders has been opposed by privacy advocates, security industry representatives and others urging that Ottawa not regulate the Internet or deny Canadians U.S. satellite signals, peer-to-peer music or other digital content on free speech grounds.
"Experience has shown we need protection from DRM (digital rights management), not for DRM," Geist said, pointing to Sony's recent use of concealed spyware in certain CDs.
The controversy follows Sarmite Bulte, a federal M.P. and parliamentary secretary for Canadian Heritage who has backed U.S.-style copyright laws, issuing an invitation for a CAN$250-a-plate fundraiser hosted by the Canadian Recording Industry Assn. and the Canadian Motion Pictures Distributors Assn. The event was scheduled to take place four days before Canadians vote for a new federal government on Jan. 23.
The CMPD, the CRIA and other copyright holders have long pushed Canada to tighten lax laws against copyright piracy. A copyright reform bill that Bulte helped write recently died when the ruling Liberal Party dissolved Parliament and called a national election for Jan. 23.
The CMPD, the CRIA and other copyright holders have long pushed Canada to tighten lax laws against copyright piracy. A copyright reform bill that Bulte helped write recently died when the ruling Liberal Party dissolved Parliament and called a national election for Jan. 23.
Bulte could not be reached for comment at press time, but her Web site heralds an "artists' and creators' " fundraiser in Toronto. Scheduled ntertainment includes Margo Timmins, lead singer of Canadian rock band the Cowboy Junkies and wife of CRIA president Graham Henderson.
"There's nothing happening here that isn't above board, where people support their champions. Artists and creators and people investing in them are investing in a champion, someone who is vocally supportive of the rights of creators to be protected," the CRIA's Henderson said of his organization's support for Bulte.
Other fundraiser sponsors helping to re-elect Bulte include the Canadian Publishers Council, the Entertainment Software Alliance and Stephen Stohn, a Toronto-based entertainment lawyer and TV producer ("Degrassi: The Next Generation").
Michael Geist, who holds the Canada research chair in Internet and E-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, on Tuesday said he was concerned that Bulte, a federal politician and former chair of the Canadian Heritage Standing Committee, was taking money from powerful U.S. interests just days before a national election.
"For Bulte to take contributions from a single group that represents one position in Canada's copyright reform debate sends the wrong signal about the impartiality of the copyright reform process," Geist said.
But the CMPDA's Frith insisted Canadian electoral laws allow his group and other copyright holders to participate in party fundraisers for Bulte and other parliamentary members. Also receiving contributions from U.S. interests are Bev Oda, a former Canadian broadcaster, TV regulator and current Ontario M.P. and culture critic for the opposition Conservative Party of Canada, and James Rajotte, another Conservative M.P.
Frith said the Jan. 19 fund-raiser for Bulte was prompted by new campaign financing laws requiring some M.P.s to delay some fund-raising activities for January because they had reached a cap on what they were allowed to raise in 2005.
The CMPDA boss added that divisions within the federal cabinet over toughening copyright laws had made coalition building in Ottawa more crucial than ever.
"Canada is beginning to look like the Libya of the OECD. The situation calls for copyright laws and more enforcement by police to put pirates out of business," Frith said.
Graham Henderson of the CRIA insisted his own lobbying efforts have been non-partisan. "This is an issue of principle, not party. We're delighted to find other parliamentarians who strongly support the rights of artists to be protected from theft," he said.
U.S. media interests in recent years have fought hard to compel Ottawa and the Canadian courts to stamp out copyright infringement here, whether from unregulated Internet streaming like iCraveTV.com during the mid-1990s, a black market in U.S. satellite dishes north of the border or illegal music downloading.
In the latest blow, the Federal Court of Appeal denied a bid by the CRIA to uncloak the identities of 29 alleged serial file sharers.
But the effort to protect copyright holders has been opposed by privacy advocates, security industry representatives and others urging that Ottawa not regulate the Internet or deny Canadians U.S. satellite signals, peer-to-peer music or other digital content on free speech grounds.
"Experience has shown we need protection from DRM (digital rights management), not for DRM," Geist said, pointing to Sony's recent use of concealed spyware in certain CDs.
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