Canada is walking into a copyright trap warn advocates, as government quietly announces it will lengthen copyright terms for sound recordings by 20 years with no public consultation

Content creators and everyday Canadians will pay the price for continued mishandling of copyright policy from government, as unaddressed Notice and Notice loophole continues to expose Canadians to abuse   

Responding to the news, OpenMedia campaigner Meghan Sali said, “Countless experts and independent studies have panned copyright extensions as little more than a cash grab for huge media conglomerates – offering no major benefits to the creators they’re supposed to protect. Everyday Canadians will end up footing the bill, by being forced to spend millions of dollars to pay for content that otherwise would have ended up in the public domain.”

Sali continued: “It’s unacceptable that Canadian laws are being shaped by U.S. priorities in the vain hope that these costly concessions will please Big Media giants and Hollywood lobbyists. We’re walking into a copyright trap.”

Revelations of copyright term extensions come amidst increasing pressure from U.S. Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiators who seek to establish a longer standard for copyright terms amongst all 12 countries participating in the controversial agreement, with recent reports indicating that their lobbying has been successful.  If passed, experts warn that the TPP could pose significant threats to free expression online.

Canadians are speaking out to demand government take decisive action on unfair copyright practices at https://OpenMedia.ca/shakedown

About OpenMedia

OpenMedia is an award-winning community-based organization that safeguards the possibilities of the open Internet. We work toward informed and participatory digital policy by engaging hundreds of thousands of people in protecting our online rights.

Through campaigns such as StopTheMeter.ca and StopSpying.ca, OpenMedia.ca has engaged over half-a-million Canadians, and has influenced public policy and federal law.

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Contact

Meghan Sali

Campaigns Coordinator, OpenMedia

1-604-363-7607

[email protected]