blogTO: There Must be 50 Ways to Kill Your Lover

blogTO: There Must be 50 Ways to Kill Your Lover

My appetite was whet after hearing about the Canadian Conservative Government’s introduction of Bill C-61 and how artists will respond to what is being hailed a police state if the act is passed. Bill 61 is the Harper Government’s attempt at initiating digital locks by ensuring complete control over media that is purchased, rented or downloaded.

The Appropos group, a coalition of artists whose exhibit opened at the Edward Day Gallery on Thursday night is a middle finger to the proposed law displaying imagery of existing popular culture icons.

The work that stole the show was by Diana Thorneycroft appropriately titled There Must be 50 Ways to Kill Your Lover, which portrays the murderous behaviour of popular cartoon characters commenting on the “ubiquitous use of violence as a form of entertainment…particularly in television shows geared towards a younger audience.”

Laura Murray: The End of Film Studies?

Laura Murray: The End of Film Studies?

I will be accused of sensationalism for this headline, but I plead not guilty. In a fascinating position paper on copyright, the Film Studies Association of Canada explains how their discipline arose relatively recently, when the videocassette made widespread and repeated access to films possible. Before that, detailed analysis of films was very difficult, because once films left theatres they effectively disappeared. But the VCR allowed people to play the same scene over and over, attending to minute detail the way only music scholars and literary scholars had been able to do before. Digital technologies have continued this process. As FSAC says, “We are able to move quickly from one image to another, allowing for effective comparisons and contrasts to be made, encouraging students to become even more discerning in their critical analyses of visual material.” Copying and format shifting allow for multimedia media analysis, where the “quotes” appear alongside the critique. Universities and their students spend a lot of money on films and equipment in order to do such work.

Broadcast This: ACTRA’s “Myths & Truths” debunked…

Broadcast This: ACTRA’s “Myths & Truths” debunked…
Jason Chesworth

Due to the overwhelming responses of yesterday’s post (ACTRA & the death of the mixed tape), I thought it would be useful to dedicate an entire post to the “Myths & Facts on the Proposed Changes to Canada’s Copyright Act”, which was the catalyst for this grassroots “membership awareness” that I’ve been squawking about for the past few months.

But first….another disclaimer (or three):

I supported ACTRA’s decision to strike in January 2007 because *we had to*. However, we (ACTRA members), weren’t the first to strike because we’re so feisty and principled and/or important to Hollywood…we were the first to strike because our IPA (Independent Production Agreement) was the first to expire. I wrote to ACTRA many times during the strike expressing my support and understanding that each creative union (WGA, DGA, SAG, AFTRA), would be facing the same issues as they negotiated their various agreements with producers.
Although I dearly wish that ACTRA (the executive) could move beyond begging for table scraps from Standing Committees on Heritage to fund our bleak industry, I do applaud the dedication of those actors within the ACTRA Council who are conversant on the issues and continue to fight on our behalf.
It’s the non-actors within the executive that I’m suspicious of…

The Becker Posner Blog: Are Newspapers Doomed?

The Becker Posner Blog: Are Newspapers Doomed?

Posner

A newspaper is a bundled product. A bundled product is one that combines a number of products the demands for which may be quite different–some consumers may want some of the products in the bundle, other consumers may want other products in the bundle. (Another good example is the Windows operating system, a bundle of a number of different programs.) Bundling is efficient if the cost to the consumer of the bundled products that he doesn’t want is less than the cost saving from bundling. A particular newspaper reader might want just the sports section and the classified ads, but if for example delivery costs are high, the price of separate sports and classified-ad “newspapers” might exceed that of a newspaper that contained both those and other sections as well, even though this reader was not interested in the other sections.

Broadcast This: ACTRA and the death of the mixed tape

Broadcast This: ACTRA and the death of the mixed tape
Jason Chesworth

Yes, another disclaimer….

*I’m not suggesting that artists shouldn’t get paid for their work, I’m suggesting that the current framing of the debate is short-sighted, lacking in a wider understanding of the current situation, and is just plain “bad business”.*

O, ACTRA wherefore art thou artistic sensibilities?

Despite the vast amount of information available on the proposed changes to the Canadian Copyright Act, (aka – The Canadian DMCA), I never cease to be surprised at the lack of understanding that artists have with regards to the new rules coming down the pipe for content creation (meaning: “art”).

A few months ago, I wrote a long open letter to ACTRA (a union to which I belong as a performer), and questioned the union’s position which overwhelmingly supports changes to the Copyright Act that they believe will enrich the finances of their membership. I wholeheartedly disagree with ACTRA…in fact…I believe that the proposed changes will become a major detriment to artists trying to create content while protecting only those at the top (read: broadcasters, big business and their lobby groups as well as internet service providers).

hughmcguire.net: Copyright conflicts & Canada’s media

hughmcguire.net: Copyright conflicts & Canada’s media

You know one of the problems about this whole copyright debate is the massive conflict of interest in reporting it in our media companies, which also happen to be our ISPs. Canada’s top 6 ISPs, in order of customer base, are: Bell Sympatico, Shaw, Telus, Rogers, Vidéotron, Cogeco. Looking at what these companies do other than provide your Internet:

Sympatico is owned by BCE, which also owns a big stake in CTV Globe Media, representing: Canada’s biggest private TV network (CTV), Canada’s biggest national newspaper (Globe and Mail), and 35 radio stations across the country.
Shaw – mostly a tech company.
Telus – mostly a tech company.
Rogers owns magazines (including Maclean’s and Canadian Business), TV stations including CityTV and RogersTV.
Videotron is owned by Quebecor, which owns scores of newspapers across the country (including Journal de Montreal and the Toronto Sun) numerous magazines in Quebec, the TVA television network, Archambault record stores, Videotron video rental stores, and a number of book publishers.
Cogeco – mostly a tech company.

Laura Murray: Lock up that Lecture Good & Tight

Laura Murray: Lock up that Lecture Good & Tight

You might have heard of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Small specialized school. Well, a few years ago, in an attempt to buff its reputation, MIT instituted OpenCourseware. Slogan: Unlocking Knowledge, Empowering Minds. Every lecture and course reading at MIT is online. Anybody in the world can take an MIT course.

You might wonder how MIT keeps in the black: well, it only gives diplomas to admitted paid-up students, so its main product (sorry to be blunt, but diplomas are the main products of universities) is unaffected. Well, not unaffected: its value has undoubtedly gone up.

eontarionow.ca:Canadians Unfairly Treated By Copyright Bill

eontarionow.ca:Canadians Unfairly Treated By Copyright Bill
New Bill Treats Users Differently And With Discrimination

Ottawa-The newest bill to address the copyright situation in Canada is causing quite a stir and controversy across the Nation.

Users that have been used to downloading music and videos for fair usage from the Internet would be prevented in many cases from doing so.

The simple act of downloading certain music songs or selections and putting them on your iPod would put many Canadian citizens in violation of the new digital copyright law, bill C61, that is being debated in the national government and by the entire Canadian Nation.

Hour.ca: Criminals all

Hour.ca: Criminals all
New copyright bill criminalizes millions of Canadians
Meg Hewings

Proposed copyright bill will make the actions of millions illegal

A controversial new copyright bill introduced by the Conservatives last week imposes harsh copyright restrictions and could slap hefty fines on anyone who has traded music, made backup copies of DVDs or uploaded a YouTube mashup.
In other words, just about everyone from you to your grandma, to millions of other Canadians.

Bill C-61 contains an anti-circumvention clause that makes it illegal to break digital locks on copyrighted material – meaning that clever teenager who broke the Blue Ray digital rights management strategy in a single afternoon would be in serious hot water. Downloading music or video files illegally could get you sued for a maximum of $500, while uploading a file to a peer-to-peer network or YouTube could result in lawsuits upward of $20,000 per file.

rabble.ca: Is Canada cloning a lousy U.S. copyright law?

rabble.ca: Is Canada cloning a lousy U.S. copyright law?
Wayne MacPhail

Ever been locked out of your own house? Maybe you lost your keys, whatever. Anyway, you wind up calling a locksmith who lets you in and replaces the locks. All fine, all legal.

But what if the government made owning lockpicks illegal? It’s your house, you have a right to enter it, and you don’t intend to steal anything, but you couldn’t get back in because the tool you need, for this perfectly legal act, has been outlawed.

Not a great situation. Hold that thought.

Last week Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister Josee Verner introduced Bill C-61, the long awaited revamped copyright reform bill. It’s really a Canadian redraft of the ten-year-old U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Well, more correctly, it’s an imperfect clone with some unfortunate genetic mutations.

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