The concept of copyright law is about as simple as you can get. Its purpose is to protect the rights of the creator of an original work, whether it is a novel, song, a video game, and its publisher, who invests the money to bring that work to market, from exploitation by other artists or publishers who have made no investment in creativity or cash in the product.
But while the concept may be simple, the implementation of it is anything but. Even back in the day when it mostly covered books and music, that could get complicated, and in this digital age where everything is electronic and so easily available to anyone in possession of any number of electronic recording devices, it has become beyond Byzantine in its complexity.
This week the federal government tried to navigate that maze with its announcement of a new bill proposed by Industry Minister Tony Clement. The proposed copyright law tries to embrace all the new technology — good luck with that, so rapidly does it change — and offer increased protection to creators and publishers without unduly penalizing consumers.
The bill is basically aimed at the industry pirates who internationally form a billion-dollar business stealing the work of others. Until now, Canada has been on the fringes of this pirate world, with unclear laws and uncertain purposes.
Clement’s bill would bring a common sense compromise to the issue, allowing individuals to download material for personal use unless it comes with a digital lock, but providing huge criminal fines for those who try to profit from it.
There are some niggles and nits that may come up — digital locks are offensive to many although, in practice, their use may be negligible, and compelling Internet providers to hand over information about suspected pirates frightens libertarians, although all it really amounts to is pursuing accomplices in crime. And we need to remember that stealing creativity is a crime. Just because it is out there and easily picked up, does not necessarily mean that it is yours for the taking.
This editorial appeared June 4 in the Winnipeg Free Press.
