Why Harper’s Copyright Reform is Unnecessary

This story in the weekend Globe says that Hollywood raked in about $4 billion in revenues over the summer. A good chunk of this was Batman, with about half a billion in ticket sales (personally, I thought the movie was awful, apart from the stunning performance of The Joker).

So it is pretty safe to say that the main folks (i.e. the Motion Picture Association of America, or MPAA) supporting Bill C-61, the new Copyright Act, are doing just fine thank you very much. The business still appears to be hugely profitable, and this is only one season and does not count DVD sales. So what problem is the new copyright act trying to fix?

The studios still control primary distribution through theatres, and people are willing to pay for a big-screen experience (though I resent getting blasted with commercials before show time, and for the first ten minutes of the “show”, after paying money to get in).

With the air thick with the prospect of a Fall election, C-61 will die in Parliament. Thankfully. File sharing will still be legal in Canada for the time being, in spite of the rhetorical campaign to convince people that it is “illegal” and “piracy”.