P2P? In Canada a new solution

While retailers like Amazon and Wal-Mart are making slow and steady progress into the realm of DRM-free music sales and the MPAA has its sights set on filtering the web, the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) has proposed an entirely different plan for settling the war between consumers, pirates and big media studios. Based on the observation that the thriving P2P market demonstrates consumers' preference for sharing music instead of paying per-track or per-album, SAC proposes that each Internet-using Canadian citizen be charged a minimal $5 monthly fee directly by their ISPs. This collective monthly license fee would then be split among artists and content owners, generating new revenues and allowing former pirates to sleep better at night now that they can legally trade music for a nominal fee.

At the core of SAC's proposal is an amendment to Canada's Copyright Act that introduces a new right: The Right to Equitable Remuneration for Music File Sharing. Since the proposal defines file-sharing as "the sharing of a copy of a copyrighted musical work without motive of financial gain," this new right would exclude those who benefit from piracy, such as web site owners who show advertising in exchange for P2P links and torrent tracking. The proposal also hopes to encompass all forms of not-for-profit sharing under the same legal umbrella, whether sharing is done via P2P, wireless networks, e-mail, CD trading, or exchanging hard drives. The proposal excludes tracks obtained from music services like the iTunes Store and PureTracks, since these tracks are governed by their own licensing and value-added incentives.

This is by no means a new idea, in fact Canadian-based Barenaked Ladies has proposed a similar plan for some time. This is perhaps the first time an organization as large as the Songwriters Association of Canada has gotten this serious about it, though. In the US, the Register of Copyrights, Marybeth Peters, says industry executives aren't fond of the idea, claiming that a system like this would stifle innovation, but it might stand a chance in Canada.

The unveiling of Nokia's Comes With Music plan casts doubt on Peters' claims however, as it provides a one-year subscription to download unlimited music (albeit with DRM) from Universal Music Group (and, if Nokia has its way, other labels) for the estimated price of $5 per month. For a marginally higher cost, this kind of subscription-like system applied at the ISP level for users who opt-in could motivate the other labels to hop on board, generating new revenues while simultaneously allowing consumers to obtain music via their preferred method. Content filtering plans like the one proposed by MPAA head Dan Glickman could police consumers who opt out of the subscription model, keeping the system balanced.

If the Songwriters Association of Canada's ISP subscription model gains any traction, though, the levies applied to blank media in Canada that pay Canadian artists might also need to be reexamined. Whether $5 per month from a significant base of Canadian internet users would generate revenues to make all the labels happy and continue to fund creativity remains to be seen.

We contacted the Canadian Recording Industry Association for a response to the proposal, but did not immediately receive a reply.

David Chartier