COPYCENSE

"The intense lobbying for stronger copyright legislation in response to music downloading, which culminated in last month’s lobby day on Parliament Hill, is premised on three key pillars. First, that the Canadian recording industry has sustained significant financial losses in recent years due to decreased music sales. Second, that those losses can be attributed to peer-to-peer file sharing. Third, that the losses have materially harmed Canadian artists. The time has come to acknowledge that each of these pillars is a myth.

"Last week’s column addressed the first two pillars. It documented how CRIA has been inconsistent in its claims of financial losses. The column also demonstrated how peer-to-peer file sharing is at best only marginally responsible for the losses that have been sustained in recent years.

"Following last week’s column, readers highlighted yet more factors including a significant decline in the number of new releases issued over the past five years  and the view that the CD sales decline simply reflects broader economic conditions.

"Against this backdrop, along with news that shipments of CDs in Canada jumped by more than 12 per cent in the six-month period following the Federal Court of Canada’s file sharing decision, it is time to slay the third peer-to-peer myth � that Canadian artists have been materially harmed by the decline in revenue."

Michael Geist. Time Music Industry Focused on Product. Toronto Star. Dec. 6, 2004.

See also:
Michael Geist. Numbers Don’t Crunch Against Downloading. Toronto Star. Nov. 29, 2004.

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