Truly, I have never been prouder to be a Canadian-American:
Chet Baker was a leading jazz musician in the 1950s, playing trumpet and providing vocals. Baker died in 1988, yet he is about to add a new claim to fame as the lead plaintiff in possibly the largest copyright infringement case in Canadian history. His estate, which still owns the copyright in more than 50 of his works, is part of a massive class-action lawsuit that has been underway for the past year.
The infringer has effectively already admitted owing at least $50 million and the full claim could exceed $6 billion. If the dollars don’t shock, the target of the lawsuit undoubtedly will: The defendants in the case are Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada, the four primary members of the Canadian Recording Industry Association.
The CRIA members were hit with the lawsuit in October 2008 after artists decided to turn to the courts following decades of frustration with the rampant infringement (I am adviser to the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, which is co-counsel, but have had no involvement in the case).
The claims arise from a longstanding practice of the recording industry in Canada, described in the lawsuit as “exploit now, pay later if at all.” It involves the use of works that are often included in compilation CDs (ie. the top dance tracks of 2009) or live recordings. The record labels create, press, distribute and sell the CDs, but do not obtain the necessary copyright licences.
From Beyonce to Bruce Springsteen, the artists waiting for payment are far from obscure, as thousands of Canadian and foreign artists have seen their copyrights used without permission and payment.
The more likely reason is that the record labels have had little motivation to pay up. As the balance has grown, David Basskin, the president and CEO of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd., notes in his affidavit that “the record labels have devoted insufficient resources for identifying and paying the owners of musical works on the pending lists.” The CRIA members now face the prospect of far greater liability.
The class action seeks the option of statutory damages for each infringement. At $20,000 per infringement, potential liability exceeds $6 billion.
That’s right – while the RIAA was busy bankrupting college kids with lawsuits for the “crime” of downloading songs from torrent networks, the Canadian divisions of its client companies were fleecing the living hell out of musicians since before the Internet was invented. Combine this with the legalization of file-sharing in the Great White North, and I almost want to stand up and sing “O, Canada,” despite not being able to sing. Land of my ancestors, I am humbled.
Hat tip:Â the eXiled.
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How beautiful. This should hasten the downfall of copyright.
good read, thank you. I had no idea..
I think I might have known you were Canadian at one point, but it still makes you more attractive.
Truly, I have never been prouder to be a Canadian-American
Canadian or Québecois?
Admittedly, this explains why you took a passing interest in the affairs of the ADQ…
As a side note, admittedly, with the end of my relationship with mistress, I no longer take the same vigorous interest in Canadian politics and history. She was shocked that I knew enough basic geography to know where Nova Scotia was located on a map, and she found my basic knowledge of her county to be somewhat attractive in a perverse way…
David Alexander:
Both – my father’s father was of Québecois descent, my father’s mother was Anglo-Canadian.
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