More fun over there in Canada where the Canadian Recording Industry Association is having a very hard time of it - and all it wants to do is follow the lead set by the Recording Industry Association Of America, the BPI and other trade bodies in suing the pants of kids sharing music online.
Numerous leading Canadian artists yesterday leant their support to a new trade body called the Canadian Music Creators Coalition, which says it will lobby against the CRIA when it feels the music industry association isn't representing the artist community's collective interests. In a launch statement the new organisation told reporters: "Record companies and music publishers are not our enemies but let's be clear: lobbyists for major labels are looking out for their shareholders, and seldom speak for Canadian artists".
Among the artists signed up for the new coalition are Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Sum 41, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), Dave Bidini (Rheostatics), Billy Talent, Broken Social Scene, Sloan, Andrew Cash and Bob Wiseman (co-founder of Blue Rodeo).
The key area in which the new association takes issue with the CRIA is those previously reported proposals to alter Canadian copyright law to enable tougher action to be taken against people who share music online. Existing Canadian law has proved to be pretty weak in prohibiting file sharing, leading to calls by the CRIA, backed by the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry, for an overhaul of legislation. Those calls got some political support and a new bill was working its way through parliament, but was halted ahead of the country's election earlier this year - with its main advocate, Liberal MP Sarmite Bulte, losing her seat in that election.
The new Coalition, in opposition to the CRIA, is calling for future copyright reform proposals to be radically different from those previously considered. In particular they oppose proposals to make it easier for record labels to sue individuals for file sharing online or attempting to crack digital rights management technology.
The Coalition's statement continued: "We are the people who actually create Canadian music. Without us, there would be no music for copyright laws to protect. [The major record companies have] been suing our fans against our will, and laws enabling these suits cannot be justified in our names. The government should repeal provisions of the Copyright Act that allow labels to unfairly punish fans who share music for non-commercial purposes."
The new Coalition follows the decision of six Canadian independent record companies to quit the CRIA claiming that the interests of the major and independent record companies were no longer in tandem, and therefore couldn't be represented by one body. Although the specific issue that led to that split was new rules governing radio airplay regulations in Canada, the independent sector there, like the independent sector here, is known to generally oppose the suing of individual music fans of file sharing and the use of digital rights technology. In fact one of the six - Nettwerk Records - has been co-funding one American music fan's defence against an RIAA anti-file sharing law suit.
The CRIA are yet to respond, as far as we know, to the creation of the new Coalition. It remains to be seen if the new organisation proves to be a powerful body when lobbying for its kind of copyright reform. Also, whether similar artist-led organisations who oppose the major label's P2P and DRM strategies appear elsewhere.