Introduction

This is the first issue of This Week in Vancouver, the weekly newsletter of Vancouver Fair Copyright. This newsletter is intended for the general public, for other Fair Copyright chapters across Canada, as well as Vancouver Fair Copyright members. We will be discussing the most notable copyright-related happenings of the past week, as well as the progress of the fair copyright movement. Enjoy!

The First Issue - A summary of everything

Meeting with MPs

We are trying to meet with as many MPs as possible before their August caucuses. Several meetings have already been set up. Those who have met with MPs have found that many of them lack basic familiarity with the issues. Some have asked for everyday examples of how C-61 affects Canadians. If you wish to set up a meeting we will support you. Please see our meetings page for details. Community appearances are also a good opportunity to talk to MPs. Some of these are coming up and are listed in our calendar. Even if your MP will not meet with you, your effort sends a powerful signal to politicians that people really care about this issue.

• Meetings: http://wiki.faircopy.ca/tiki-index.php?page=MP+Meetings
• Calendar: http://wiki.faircopy.ca/tiki-calendar.php

Online

Vancouver Fair Copyright has a website which provides basic information on copyright and Bill C-61. We also have a Wiki for member collaboration and as a mailing list used both for collaboration and for keeping up with latest developments. We invite everyone to participate on the Wiki as well as the mailing list.

Other Fair Copyright chapters also have useful resources. Montreal and Ottawa both have Wikis which contain useful information, and Calgary has prepared an information sheet about C-61.

• Vancouver
  • Website: http://faircopy.ca/
  • Wiki: http://wiki.faircopy.ca/
  • Mailing List: http://lists.faircopy.ca/listinfo.cgi/discuss-faircopy.ca
• Montreal: http://www.faircopyrightmontreal.org/
• Ottawa: http://ottawa.digital-copyright.ca/
• Calgary Info Sheet: http://members.shaw.ca/cfilm/pub-files/Bill-C61/Fair%20Copyright%20info%20sheets.pdf

BC Civil Liberties Association presentation

Greg McMullen and Chris Brand presented recommendations to the BCCLA. The reception was most positive: the association agreed to accept the recommendations as their position on C-61, and said they would also be willing to speak to a parliamentary committee.

• Recommendations: http://wiki.faircopy.ca/tiki-index.php?page=BCCLA+Recommendations

User Rights

William McGrath has drafted a Canadian Declaration of User Rights, enumerating the values that fair copyright legislation should protect. It includes such things as private copying, professional uses, innovation, and interoperability.

• CDUR: http://wiki.faircopy.ca/tiki-index.php?page=User+Rights

Marketing

We are developing plans and material for getting our message out. The copyright lobby uses deceptive slogans like "Downloading is theft!" These can have a big impact. To counteract them, we are developing slogans, scenarios of how the law would affect people in their everyday lives, and examinations of how to frame the issue. Have a look at the wiki, and contribute any catchy phrases or thoughts there or on the mailing list.

• Slogans: http://wiki.faircopy.ca/tiki-index.php?page=Slogans
• Scenarios: http://wiki.faircopy.ca/tiki-index.php?page=Everyday+Scenarios
• Framing: http://wiki.faircopy.ca/tiki-index.php?page=Framing+the+Issue

Approaches to Piracy

Several Vancouver Fair Copyright members recently met with Liberal MP Joyce Murray to discuss concerns about the anti-circumvention provisions of Bill C-61. She was focused on the protection of producer rights and preventing piracy. We must be prepared for this to be brought up during discussions. Two approaches were discussed by the group. One is to cite reliable sources which refute industry estimates that exaggerate the impact of piracy. The other is to re-frame the issue rather than getting caught up in debates over piracy: the bill will not stop piracy, but it will have tremendous negative impacts on the freedoms and rights of artists, innovators and consumers - we need to focus the debate on these things in order to win the argument.

Party Responses

NDP

The NDP has expressed its opposition to this bill. Several of their MPs and candidates have said they will make it an election issue.

Liberals

The position of the Liberals is more ambiguous. We have been told, however, that two of their MPs (including Scott Brison, their Industry critic) will be holding town hall meetings across the country on this topic. Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal MP for Newton-Delta, will be holding a copyright fairness townhall meeting on Wednesday July 30th. One of Mr. Dhaliwal's staff met with us and told us that C-61 will likely pass second reading with help from the Bloc Québécois, but due to widespread opposition it is not likelyto pass committee in its current form. It was also noted that most MPs do not have the technical expertise to understand the bill, and that writing letters to caucuses may prove to be effective.

Conservatives

The Conservatives appear to be holding to the party line, though at least one (Mark Warawa in Langley) has said he would like to hear from constituents on the issue. We believe it is well worth pressuring Conservatives: if there is sufficient opposition, they may choose to let the bill die.

Bloc Québécois

The Bloc Québécois is currently supporting the Bill due to powerful industry lobbies in Quebec. While they are not in full agreement with the bill, they would like to see the penalty for infringement increased, as per the bill. Quebec media are largely in agreement. One possible reason for the Bloc's support is their cultural protectionist tradition. We are trying to determine whether there is anything we can do to help in Quebec. Bill C-61 appears on the surface to better protect culture by providing more control to content producers. However it must be understood that C-61 actually achieves the exact opposite of cultural protection: it consolidates control by a few big corporations, which are often neither Quebecer nor Canadian, but rather from the United States. Even rights controlled by Quebec corporations are detrimental to the propagation of culture due to the limits C-61 places on creativity.