At a holiday open house for his constituents in Calgary, Jim Prentice was bombarded with questions about his copyright bill that he will be tabling in the House of Commons soon. It is rumored that this bill will be a complete sell-out to US Government and Lobbyist demands.

When a member of the press asked who was asking for Canada’s copyright laws to be updated, the minister stated that CEOS had been pressuring him.

He avoided or provided very weak answers to the questions of the over 60 ordinary citizens who came out to ask him questions.

I only managed to get my question in at the last moment, asking him if he had consulted with any of the Canadian Artists or Songwriters who oppose the direction this piece of legislation is expected to go. He ignored my question.

Many Canadian artists have formed a group known as the Canadian Music Creators Coalition and they have been speaking out on this type of legislation. They want Canadians to be able to share music, and they don’t want to see their record companies sue their fans. They want to go after the people making profits off of their music illegally, but they don’t want to sue fans that are simply ripping music of their CDs and putting in on their iPod or sharing it with some friends.

The Songwriters Associaiton of Canada sees that Canadians prefer to access their music via file-sharing over other methods. They are suggesting a fee be collected from all ISP accounts, and then users can access their songs without fearing criminal prosecution. All views must be heard.

Jim Prentice states that all views will be heard, once the bill reaches committee level. Why wait until then? Prentice should not only be listening to the concerns of the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) when drafting the bill, but he should listen to all stakeholders (artists, songwriters and consumers.) Don’t waste parliament’s time by waiting until the bill has been tabled before consulting with all stakeholders.

It’s time for Jim Prentice to listen.

Now here’s what you can do:

Email:
Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca.

Snail Mail:
Jim Prentice

House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6 (you don’t need a stamp!)

Leave a message on Prentice’s voice-mail (As of 5:00PM today, all the voice mailboxes are full. Please try again on Monday… don’t let this die.)
Ottawa office - (613) 992-4275
Calgary office - (403) 216-7777
Minister office - (613) 995-9001

And don’t forget to write letters to the editor of your local newspapers.