Published in the Ottawa Citizen, Monday, January 9, 2006

Byline: Graham Henderson

In its recent editorial ("Ask the hard questions", Jan. 2), the Citizen asks precisely the wrong questions and in so doing obscures an undeniable conclusion: Canadians overwhelmingly want their elected representatives to take action now to protect copyright on the Internet.

The question is not, as the Citizen posits, whether private parties should have the unfettered right to examine files on any computer connected to the Internet, or whether they should be unconditionally indemnified from liability for any damage they cause. No one is proposing such absurdities, so why ask such questions?

What the recent Pollara Inc. study referred to by the editorial did ask is if Canadians want laws that actually protect the creations of artists, musicians, authors and other creators, and if they want action now by politicians vying for our votes. By a landslide, the answer was "yes."

The poll found that, even in the era of Internet downloading and rampant theft of music and movies, 91 per cent of Canadians feel creative works and intellectual property should be protected and those who create it should be paid. Sixty-eight per cent think all federal political parties should commit themselves to immediately enacting stronger laws to protect the work of musicians and filmmakers from being freely traded on the Internet.

Even as our elected officials have failed to deal with this issue, Canadians have taken notice of its importance. Canada's copyright industries are a key engine of our nation's future economic growth. The sectors of our economy that rely on copyright protection, such as the software and information technology industry, and the film, book publishing and music industries, are the third most important contributors to our economic growth. Despite this, left largely unprotected, the music, film and software development sectors of the economy have seen dramatic losses in both sales and jobs.

Illegal file swapping on the Internet has cut $525 million out of the Canadian economy in the last five years and resulted in the loss of 20 per cent of the jobs in the Canadian music industry. But this issue doesn't end with the music business. Filmmakers, many of whom use Canadian locations for their shoots, have estimated they lose $3 billion U.S. worldwide in annual sales due to piracy, even without factoring in additional lost revenue from Internet downloading.

Theft of intellectual property also hurts this country's technology sector. Due to Canada's outdated copyright laws, theft of software is higher in this country (36 per cent of sales) than in our closest trading partners, such as the United Kingdom or the United States (both 27 per cent). Reducing theft by 10 percentage points would create 14,000 new jobs and yield $8.1 billion in economic growth, according to a recent study by the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft.

With so many jobs and so much economic growth at stake, why aren't our politicians taking more notice? As the Pollara poll results bear out, the reality is the protection of intellectual property in this country is an important issue for Canadians, which politicians ignore at their peril. In fact, a majority of Canadians told Pollara they want to hear where the political parties stand on the issue of copyright and protection of intellectual property.

A majority of poll respondents also agree that the country's copyright-related industries must be protected with strong copyright laws in order for them to grow economically. But what the parties will find most intriguing here is that female voters (a key demographic in this election) overwhelmingly support this proposition. There is strong support for this proposition across the board, with the sole exception of young males who, not unsurprisingly, are responsible for the vast majority of illegal downloading.

While the European Union and the United States have adopted legislation that deals head-on with copyright issues in the digital era, Canadian legislation continues to languish in the analog age it was designed for. Again, Ottawa is out of step with Canadians. According to the poll, 74 per cent of us feel it is time to bring this country in line with internationally accepted laws on copyright, like the World Intellectual Property Organization treaties that Canada agreed to in 1997, but have failed to enact.

In all, these latest poll results demonstrate the overwhelming desire of Canadians to improve our outmoded copyright system and protect the intellectual property created by software makers, artists and others. They also clearly indicate it is only those on Canada's political fringes who oppose protecting these rights. Considering that fact, Canadian politicians would be well advised to start listening to the Canadian public, rather than the few self-serving rationalizers who want to trample on the rights of those who create intellectual property.

It is time all political parties paid attention to the concerns their constituents are voicing. Canadians have voiced their opinions loudly, clearly and decisively. Now let's hope the parties take the time not only to listen and learn, but to act on what is obviously in Canada's best interest.

Graham Henderson is the president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association (www.cria.ca) and a music lawyer who has represented some of this country's top musicians.