Copyright 2004 CanWest Interactive, a division of
CanWest Global Communications Corp.
All Rights Reserved  
The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec)
April 1, 2004 Thursday Final Edition
SECTION: News; Pg. A4

LENGTH: 577 words

HEADLINE: Canadian music industry loses bid to thwart song-sharing on the Web: Comparing the actions of file swappers to a photocopy machine in a library, a Federal Court justice rules the uploading and downloading of music over the Internet is not illegal under Canadian copyright law

SOURCE: CanWest News Service

BYLINE: GILLIAN SHAW

DATELINE: VANCOUVER

BODY:
Canadian Internet music fans can breathe a sigh of relief after a Federal Court decision yesterday that will protect them from the prying eyes of the Canadian Recording Industry Association.

Justice Konrad von Finckenstein ruled the association did not prove there was copyright infringement by 29 John and Jane Does, so-called music uploaders whom the industry alleges are high-volume music traders.

"No evidence was presented that the alleged infringers either distributed or authorized the reproduction of sound recordings," von Finckenstein wrote in his 28-page ruling. "They merely placed personal copies into their shared directories which were accessible by other computer users via a P2P service."

He compared the action to a photocopy machine in a library. "I cannot see a real difference between a library that places a photocopy machine in a room full of copyrighted material and a computer user that places a personal copy on a shared directory linked to a P2P service," he said.

The decision means Internet service providers won't have to hand over the users' names, a prospect that had sent a chill through the file-sharing community.

It was more bad news for the recording industry that was scrambling to denounce a study released on the eve of the court decision by researchers at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina that found, contrary to industry claims, online file sharing isn't responsible for the decline in CD sales.

"This makes it open season on any intellectual property product," said one music industry insider. "Every single person who works for a record company should be concerned about their job after this ruling."

The Canadian music industry says sharing of music files on peer-to-peer services like Kazaa has cost the industry $400 million in lost sales and resulted in a

20-per-cent cut to its workforce.

In what analysts termed a stunning decision, Finckenstein ruled file sharing - the uploading and downloading of files over the Internet - is not illegal under Canadian copyright law, reaffirming what the Copyright Board of Canada has already determined.

CRIA vowed to fight yesterday's decision, which was cheered by technology and privacy advocates alike.

"It's not just a victory for file shares, it is a victory for technology itself and for Internet users in Canada," said Howard Knopf, a lawyer with the Ottawa firm Macera and Jarzyna, the lawyer representing the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Internet Clinic.

The court decision puts an immediate block to plans announced Tuesday by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the recording industry umbrella organization, to take its fight against file sharing to several countries, including Canada. The IFPI said 247 file sharers worldwide would be targeted with lawsuits.

The IFPI is based in England and was not available to comment on whether it is changing its plans since file sharing has been ruled legal in Canada.

CRIA vowed to continue fighting what it calls the "widespread infringement of music copyright on the Internet" and the association's general counsel Richard Pfohl said an appeal is likely.

The CIRA motions, filed Feb. 11, if granted, would have required Bell/Sympatico, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications, Telus Corp. and Videotron Telecom to reveal the identities of subscribers who it alleged were sharing music on a large scale.

CP contributed to this report

GRAPHIC: Photo: CLAYTON STALTER, AP; Musician Anne Murray gets a tour Oct. 30, 2003, of the EMI manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, Ill., from David Arbuthnot, vice-president (operations). EMI announced yesterday it will close its CD and DVD manufacturing plants in Jacksonville and the Netherlands and shift production to companies like Canada's Cinram International.

LOAD-DATE: April 1, 2004