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PAGE 16 FOCUS April 26, 2010 • lAw Times Fair-use proposal a 'trap door': lawyer Continued from page 13 To advertise in an upcoming issue, contact our sales team: Karen Lorimer 647-288-8018 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Expand 1-8 - 2X.indd 1 Kimberlee Pascoe 416-298-5141 Ext. 4052 kimberlee.pascoe@thomsonreuters.com 8/22/11 2:19:29 PM Graham Henderson. "However, as an ancillary to a successful, legitimate market, private copying levies can play a role in compensating creators when designed correctly. Canada's record labels have no issue with such levies when they are applied uniquely to private copies of le- gally obtained music. However, we do not support levies that ef- fectively launder illegally acquired music into a legal format, where artists and other rights holders are paid a pittance." Sookman notes that private copying levies on digital record- ing devices are fairly common in Europe. "It is not like we would be making any groundbreaking precedents if we had it but it does add costs to the sale of equipment, and then there is the question of what should be covered and what shouldn't be covered." 'You can't just rush into a levy,' says Barry Sookman. Options could range from the right of consumers to copy something they've already paid for to the right to download from authorized and unauthor- ized sources on the Internet. "Right now, [iTunes] is com- peting with many people pirat- ing music but it is not rampant and you don't have individuals thinking, 'I am already paying for this through a levy, so why should I pay again?'" Sookman points out. When More is Too Much While Angus' proposal to expand the fair-dealing exemp- tion appears at fi rst glance to be a minor change to the Copyright Act, Sookman calls it a signifi cant amendment. "It would radically As distribution and usage of content online become ubiquitous and free in the digital age, it is just not practical to have to hire a lawyer and go to a court to decide whether certain uses are permissible. reshape the copyright balance in Canada to the ultimate detriment of our Canadian cultural indus- tries, those that work and de- pend on them, and the Canadian public as a whole," he warns. Th e change, he adds, would Irrelevant cases chewing up your research time? Get the best cases first. There's no bones about it. BestCase not only has a comprehensive collection of unreported decisions, but our diamond image helps you quickly find decisions selected by experts to identify the most relevant cases first. BestCase is the only source for Canada's leading law reports, such as the Dominion Law Reports and Canadian Criminal Cases. It also contains case law you won't find anywhere else. You can print or download PDFs of both reported and unreported decisions – no photocopying required. And Bestcase costs you less! For more information visit canadalawbook.ca too much (LT 1-2x4).indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 4/21/10 8:43:56 AM lead to "uncertainty, expensive lit- igation, and leave important pub- lic-policy decisions to be made by courts instead of Parliament. "Fair use is a trap door out of the technology world. As dis- tribution and usage of content online become ubiquitous and free in the digital age, it is just not practical to have to hire a lawyer and go to a court to de- cide whether certain uses are permissible. It's as if someone designed a car that required the driver to pull over, stop, and turn the wheels by hand in order to change direction." Angus' bill comes as the gov- ernment considers its approach to copyright law following con- sultations last year. So far, howev- er, offi cials have yet to reveal their plans for changing the law. LT