Introduction

• Author: Michael Geist
• Pages: 1-12

Introduction

Copyright

reform

has

always

been

a

contentious issue.

In the

1880s,

publishers battled authors.

In the

early

1900s

piano-roll manufacturers

clashed with

a

nascent sound-recording industry.

In the

late

1990s,

rights-

holder groups, comprised primarily

of the

recording industry, Hollywood,

and

copyright collectives, challenged librarians

and the

education com-

munity. Decade after decade,

the

battle

for an

appropriate copyright bal-

ance

remains

the

same

—

only

the

players involved

in the

debate evolve.

Bill

C-6o,

officially

unveiled

on 20

June 2005,

is the

latest

round

of Ca-

nadian

reform.

It is

likely

to

attract

more public

attention

and

invite more

participation

than

all

previous copyright reform processes combined.

The

earlier processes were typified

by

negotiated compromises between rela-

tively small groups

of

"copyright stakeholders."

The

major

copyright

in-

dustry associations such

as the

Canadian Recording Industry Association

and the

copyright collectives such

as

Access

Copyright

or

SOCAN

advo-

cated

for

stronger protections, most business associations adopted

a

neu-

tral

position, while

the

education

and

library communities represented

the

interests

of

millions

of

Canadians.

The

Internet

and new

technologies have dramatically altered

the

com-

position

of

copyright stakeholders.

The

original groups

are

certainly

still

present,

but

today

the

broader public also demands

a

seat

at the

table.

The

public's interest

in

copyright

—

something inconceivable even

a few

years

i

A.

BACKGROUND