The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPPC) announced that a number of musicians have signed a joint letter that expresses support for extending the Canadian private audio copying levy to include most digital devices and storage media.
For more information visit: www.cpcc.ca
Unedited press release follows:
November 25, 2010
ANNE MURRAY, THE TRAGICALLY HIP, SARAH HARMER, CHAD KROEGER, METRIC AND STOMPIN’ TOM AMONG ARTISTS SUPPORTING PRIVATE COPYING LEVY
TORONTO – A broad spectrum of Canadian artists ranging from global icons to emerging talents are supporting the call for Canada’s private copying levy to be saved and modernized through changes to new copyright legislation currently before Parliament.
Legends including Anne Murray, Stompin’ Tom Connors, Andy Kim, Tom Cochrane, Lawrence Gowan, Carole Pope and members of Triumph have signed a joint letter in support of the private copying levy to Industry Minister Tony Clement and Heritage Minister James Moore, along with contemporary sensations Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, Metric and The Tragically Hip. Rising stars including Sophie Milman, Eva Avila, Serena Ryder, Sarah Harmer, Kathleen Edwards, Hawksley Workman, Jacob Hoggard and Royal Wood are also signatories of the letter.
“This shows that artists at all stages of their careers support the Canadian private copying levy and that they understand the importance of the compensation it provides to creators when their music is copied. They believe that a copy is a copy, and that regardless of how one gets made, artists should get paid when their music is used in this way,” said David Basskin, member of Canadian Private Copying Collective Board of Directors.
More than 350 artists signed the letter, which calls on Bill C-32, The Copyright Modernization Act, to be amended to extend the private copying levy (currently applied to blank media used to copy music like CD-Rs) to MP3 players.
“By leaving the private copying levy as is, applying to blank media such as CDs, you obviously recognize that these copies have value. Why would you not take the technologically neutral approach and extend it to MP3 players? Just because it is easy to make digital copies of our art, does that mean that they are worthless? MP3 players are this generation’s version of blank media. A copy is a copy and the principle of fair compensation for rights holders should apply whether the copy is made onto blank media or MP3 players,” the letter says.
A copy of the letter and the full list of artists who have signed it follow.
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November 24, 2010
Hon. Tony Clement, Minister of Industry
Hon. James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Dear Ministers Clement and Moore,
Thank you for your efforts to date in modernizing Canada’s copyright law. As you know, that legislation has a tremendous impact on us, Canada’s songwriters and recording artists, and on our ability to earn a living from the music we create.
We are pleased with some aspects of the proposed new copyright legislation, Bill C-32, such as how it would legalize the everyday activity of copying music to MP3 players like the iPod. We want Canadians to be able to enjoy our music wherever they go. However, it is very disappointing and unfair that the proposed legislation does not include compensation for creators when copies are made of their music onto MP3 players.
Thirteen years ago, in recognition of the fact that copies of music have value, Canada’s private copying levy was established to provide compensation to artists when their music was copied to cassette tapes, blank CDs and other types of blank media commonly used for that purpose. Over the years, more than $180 million has been paid out to the rights holders who created the music that was copied: songwriters, recording artists, music publishers and record labels. The revenue from the current levy is drying up at an alarming rate, dropping 60% from 2008 to 2010, and yet the number of private copies made of our work is not decreasing. Soon artists will receive no compensation for the millions of copies made of our work.
Again, it is important to stress how much we, the artists, rely on the proceeds of the levy. We are truly not, and have never considered ourselves to be, a class of elites. In reality, most of us struggle to eke out a living. Recording an album is exceedingly expensive and labour intensive. We pour everything we have into our projects and we then work ceaselessly to tour and promote our music, which is again, extremely costly. If our work does catch on and people want to enjoy our music on various media, should we not be compensated for those copies?
By leaving the private copying levy as is, applying to blank media such as CDs, you obviously recognize that these copies have value. Why would you not take the technologically neutral approach and extend it to MP3 players? Just because it is easy to make digital copies of our art, does that mean that they are worthless? MP3 players are this generation’s version of blank media. A copy is a copy and the principle of fair compensation for rights holders should apply whether the copy is made onto blank media or MP3 players. Please be fair and extend to us the same consideration you have shown consumers by protecting our interests alongside theirs. We know that you do not want to see a Canada that is devoid of musicians and songwriters, but without fair and balanced treatment, that may be the tragic consequence. We are not asking for charity, but only for the recognition that our work has value. And, we ask that this sentiment be reflected in the new copyright bill.
Yours truly,
Aleesia , Brian Allen ( Toronto ) , Chad Allen , John P. Allen , Colin Amey , Jorn Juul Anderson , Adele Armin , Drew Arnott , A-Track , Julian Austin , Eva Avila , Mary Aziz-Stoetzer , Robin Bachman , Tim Bachman , Bobby Baker ( The Tragically Hip ) , Travis Barfoot ( The Mission District ) , Pat Barrett , Eli Barsi , Robert Bartolucci , Steve Bays , Rick Belanger , Dave Benedict , Adam Benning , Bruce Berger , David Betts ( Honeymoon Suite ) , Dave Bidini , Jeff Bird ( Cowboy Junkies ) , Jully Black , Mike Boltz , Teddy Borowiecki , Russ Boswell ( Parachute Club ) , Jim P. Boudreau , Helen Boulding , Fallon Bowman , Graham Boyle , Peter Boynton , Daenen Bramberger ( The Midway State ) , Mark Branconnier , Paul Brennan , Ron Briggs , Scott Brightam , Lisa Brokop , Valare Bromley ( Beneficiary of Ted Kowalski – The Diamonds ) , Barry Brown ( Family Brown ) , Charity Brown , Divine Brown , Greg R. Brown , Jim Bryson , Jay Buettner , John J. Burton , Terry Bush , Derry Byrne , John Calabrese , Kerrigan Carbol , Karin Carlson , Stephen Carroll ( The Weakerthans ) , Roberta Carter Harrison ( Wild Strawberries ) , Bruce Cassidy , Izzodore Cenyano ( The Envy ) , Megan Chandler , Paul Chapman , Henry Christian , Micheal Philip Christie ( G4 ) , Jarvis Church , Evan Clark ( The Mission District ) , Terry Clements ( Lightfoot ) , Ray Coburn , Tom Cochrane , Ray Cockburn , Stompin’ Tom Connors , Victor Constanzi , Marg Conway , Brian Cooper , Shawn Creamer ( The Beauties ) , Chris Cresswell , Ian Crichton , Chris Crippin ( Hedley ) , Colin Cripps , Al Cross , Chris Cummings , Amelia Curran , Sean Dalton ( The Trews ) , Jon Darbey , Karen David , Arron Davis , Carlos Del Junco , R. Deschamps , Hugh Dillon , Davide DiRenzo , Richard Dodson ( Stampeders ) , Luke Doucet , Herry Doucette , Mike Downes , Derek Downham ( The Beauties ) , Gord Downie , Damhnait Doyle , Terry Draper , Melanie Durrant , Kathleen Edwards , mark Eisenman , Rik Emmett , Teresa Ennis , David Faber ( Faber Drive ) , Megan Fanning , Johnny Fay ( The Tragically Hip ) , Troy Feener , Nathan Ferraro ( The Midway State ) , Sandra Fiddes , Debbie Fleming , Murray Foster , Steve Fox , Mike Francis ( Lightfoot ) , Shaun Frank ( The Envy ) , Simon Fryer , Rena Gaile , Mark Gane ( Martha and the Muffins ) , Amos Garrett , Alice Glass ( Crystal Castles ) , Dallas Good ( Sadies ) , Matthew Good , Eric Gosselin , Rex Goudie , Lawrence Gowan , Anthony W. Grace , Jenn Grant , Julie Gravett , James Gray ( NQ Arbuckle ) , Brian Greenway ( April Wine ) , Derry Grehan ( Honeymoon Suite ) , Gary Gross , JK Gulley , Randy Gulliver , Darren Gusnowsky , Daryl Gutheil , Trevor Guthrie ( Soul Decision ) , Emily Haines ( Metric ) , Keith Hampshire , Mike Hand ( The Mission District ) , Sarah Harmer , Dave Harrison , Ken Harrison , Tara Lynn Hart , Ron Hawkins , Hayden , Kevin Hearn , Angela Hewitt , Ron Hiller , Ian Hodges , Jacob Hoggard ( Hedley ) , Sean Hosein , Brian Hughes , Terry Jacks , Bruce Jacobs , Logan Jacobs , Bonnie James , Rob James , Jacki Ralph Jamieson , Lionel Dean Jarvis , Carly Rae Jepsen , Brad Johner ( Johner Brothers ) , Doug Johnson ( Loverboy ) , Kit Johnson , Martha Johnson ( Martha and the Muffins ) , Molly Johnson , Roy Johnstone , David Jonsson , Marc Jordan , Sass Jordan , Harry Kalensky , Keith Kanashiro , Ethan Kath ( Crystal Castles ) , Greg Kavanagh , Tom Keenlyside , Angela Kelman , Roy Kenner ( Mandala ) , Todd Kerns , Ross Kerr , Sonny Keyes , Sean Kilbride , Andy Kim , Floyd King , Ronnie King , Mike Kirsh ( The Midway State ) , Russell D. Klyne , Nick Krishna , Chad Kroeger ( Nickleback ) , Tyson Kuteyi , Bernie Labarge , Marc LaFrance , Mark Lalama , Mary Jane Lamond , Timothy Lamson ( Metric ) , Paul Langlois ( The Tragically Hip ) , Claire Lawrence , Rick Lazar , Ranee Lee , Arielle Legere , Jason Levine , Michael Levine , Jeremy Liddle ( Faber Drive ) , Colin Linden , Aaron Lines , Bob Livingston , Barry Lloyd ( Richie Knight and the MidKnights ) , Bill Loop , Greg Lowe , Jonathan Luccock ( The Envy ) , Paco Luviano , Paul MacAusland , Colin MacDonald ( The Trews ) , John Angus MacDonald ( The Trews ) , Tom MacDonald ( Hedley ) , Trevor MacGregor ( Treble Charger ) , Suzie MacNeil , Dayna Manning , Barbara Mantini , Glenn Marais , Kenneth Marco , John Marmora , Michael Massaro , Steve Mastroianni ( The Envy ) , Craig McCaw , Melissa McClelland , Andrew McCracken , Darin McDonnell ( The Beauties ) , Donnie McDougall , Diana McIntosh , Kevan McKenzie , Britt McKillip , Carly McKillip , Tom McKillip , Mark McLean , Bryan Mclellan ( Vega 4 ) , Holly McNarland , Nicole Mehta , Brian Melo , Victor Micallef ( Canadian Tenors ) , Joseph Millar , Sophie Milman , William Mimnaught , Lyle Molzan , Deborah Mae Moore , Gil Moore ( Triumph ) , Lori Morrison , Peter Mueller , Daniel Mulholland ( The Envy ) , Gary Munn , Anne Murray , Clifton Murray ( Canadian Tenors ) , Alannah Myles , David Myles , Colin Nairne , Nancy Nash ( Sazacha Red Sky ) , Kathy Naumann , Jeffrey Neill , Chris Neilson-Smith , Vince Nudo ( Priestess ) , Fergus O’Byrne , Ray Parker , Kenneth Pearson , Remigio Pereira ( Canadian Tenors ) , Gary D. Peterson , Paul Pfisterer ( The Beauties ) , Joel Plaskett , Jason Plumb , Carole Pope , Kalan Porter , Kaylen Prescott , Kelly Prescott , Randall Prescott , Jordan Prichett ( Faber Drive ) , Murray Pulver ( Doc Walker ) , Les Quitzao , Paul Rameriz , David Rancourt ( The Mission District ) , Jimmy Rankin , Donald Reed , David Leonard Reimer , Owen Richards ( Colour of Fire ) , Dan Roberts ( Crash Test Dummies ) , Sam Roberts , Antoine Felix Rochette-Thivierge ( The Mission District ) , Ray M. Roper , Kathryn Rose , Dave Rosin ( Hedley ) , Robert Rousseau ( The Mission District ) , Serena Ryder , Gordie Sampson , Don Schmid , James Shaw ( Metric ) , Gordie Sheard , David Sigmund , Gord Sinclair ( The Tragically Hip ) , Johnny Sinclair , Ken Sinnaeve , Amy Sky , Sarah Slean , Brian W. Smith ( Trooper ) , Jodi Smith , R. Harlan Smith , Steven A. Smith , Dave Somerville , Timothy Stacey , Leslie Stanwyck , Kevan Staples ( Rough Trade ) , Morry Stearns , Ryan Stewart , Tommy Stewart , John Stockfish , Kim Stockwood , Shade Stone ( Ignazio Pipitone ) , Wayne Stone , Amanda Stott , Andrew Stricko ( Faber Drive ) , Kurt Swinghammer , Jack Sypereck ( The Trews ) , Chris Tait , Chris Taylor-Munro , Mihai Tetel , Dave Thorsteinson ( Doc Walker ) , Blair Thorton ( BTO ) , Martin Tielli , Brent Titcomb , Liam Titcomb , Ken Tobias , Frank Troiano , Gina Troiano , Mike Turner , Ryan Tweedle , J.R. Vautour , Norm Walker , Don Walsh ( Downchild ) , Fraser Walters ( Canadian Tenors ) , Dave Wasyliw ( Doc Walker ) , Tom Watrous , John Webster , Steven D. Webster , Gary Weeks , Jesse Weeks , Tim White ( Headstones ) , Rick Whitelaw , Ken Whiteley , David Wilcox , Denny Will , David Willis , Joshua Winstead ( Metric ) , Mike Wise ( The Midway State ) , Royal Wood , David Woodward , Hawksley Workman , Graham Wright , David Young , John P. Zahal , Jack Zaza , Michael Zweig , Elliott Brood and the Rheostatics.