Looks like our calls for more consultations are working! There’s not much in this story that matches with the title, but an industry spokesperson did say the process has been delayed until both “consumers and creators are accommodated.”

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MONTREAL – Film and TV makers are complaining that, despite more than a decade of lobbying, they have been left out in the cold on Ottawa’s latest attempt at copyright reform, which has sparked widespread debate and an 18,000-person protest on Facebook.

“The government hasn’t sought any consultation from the audio-visual sector and they are far from grasping the issues. The bill will probably mainly deal with the music sector,” says Anne-Marie Desroches, spokeswoman for Quebec’s Union des Artistes.

“But copyright is a can of worms. It’s hell,” she tells Playback Daily. “Politically you lose points. Internet users want it to be free, so does the education milieu.”

Industry Minister Jim Prentice was expected to introduce a copyright reform bill this week, but the process has been delayed until both “consumers and creators are accommodated,” says a ministry spokesman.

Playback

CBC Radio’s Search Engine had a reporter at the protest against Jim Prentice’s copyright bill. This protest took place at an open house at his constituency office.

Here is a link to an MP3 of yesterday’s show. It’s about a 5 minute segment at the beginning. Enjoy.

It looks like Jim Prentice, Canada’s Industry Minister, won’t be introducing his copyright bill until the new year after all.

Anyone who has been following the story surrounding Prentice’s copyright bill this week knows that it’s been a confusing week. The bill was originally to be introduced on Tuesday, then it got indefinitely delayed. Then Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa law professor spearheading the opposition to this bill, reported rumours on Parliament Hill of the legislation being introduced today. Then today the introduction of new government bills came and went without a new copyright bill. According to Geist, the Industry Minister’s press secretary has advised journalists that the bill will not be introduced today or tomorrow.

With the House of Commons going on a winter break at the end of the week, the legislation will not be introduced until atleast January.

I reiterate myself in saying that Prentice should use this time to do a proper consultation with all stakeholders. These stakeholders would include but are not limited to: Artists, songwriters, software innovators, and consumers.

So far, Prentice has only listened to the concerns of corporate lobby groups.

Many groups, such as The Canadian Music Creators Coalition and the Songwriters Association of Canada, are calling for alternative methods for dealing with piracy. They need to be listened to too.

Some consumer concerns would include backing up music they’ve purchased and transferring music they have purchased to their MP3 players.

Finally P2P (Peer to Peer) file sharing is not going away, suing music fans who choose to access their music via P2P is counter productive and does not allow the music industry to grow.

All these concerns must be properly addressed with consultations with all stakeholders before the bill is amended or redrafted and tabled.

Maybe I had gotten my hopes up too high. I thought Minister Prentice had heard the cry of the people and decided to consult with all stakeholders before tabling his copyright bill.

There are rumours in Ottawa this evening that Industry Minister Jim Prentice has decided to forge ahead with the Canadian DMCA with the bill to be introduced tomorrow morning, according to Michael Geist - A University of Ottawa law professor leading the fight for public consultations. With only a few days of delay, a proper consultation was not done.

The CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association) and other corporate lobby groups are not the only stakeholders on this issue. Other stakeholders include musicians, songwriters, software developers, and of course consumers. Minister Prentice has not properly consulted any of the other stakeholders. The non-corporate stakeholders should not have to wait until after the bill has been tabled and put forward to committee before having their say. They should be consulted well before the bill is drafted.

Let’s just hope this isn’t a complete sell out to the only groups Prentice has consulted with, but I’m not holding my breath.

Michael Geist reports that the introduction of a controversial copyright bill in Canada is being delayed.

This comes after a massive public outcry against what is speculated to be the bill’s contents. Hopefully Jim Prentice got the message and he will do public consultations with all stakeholders, before introducing another bill. We do need new copyright legislation in Canada, but it shouldn’t be written by corporate lobbyists.