A neighbour told me recently that he was forbidden from videotaping his young daughter’s performance at her recital. The dance school argued that since he would also be recording the music she was dancing to, he would be breaking copyright law. “Don,” said my neighbour, “if that’s the law, then the law is an ass.” I agree.

What harm can a dad videotaping a dance recital do? We’ve got many wonderful new tools to capture and share artistic work, but the major media corporations browbeat governments into passing laws that strip us of our ability to use these technologies to the fullest.

The music industry is particularly at risk. So far, peer-to-peer networks, such as BitTorrent and eDonkey, as well as personal blogs and consumer review websites, have allowed individuals access to a vast library of creative work in addition to providing a medium where they can voice their opinions and influence the behaviour of others.

If you’re looking for something new in jazz, you can do a quick search of Technorati to find out what people are saying about the latest releases. You can then download a song using BitTorrent, post a review of it on your own blog and link to the musicians’ home page where, God forbid, your visitors might actually click on the “buy now” link. Unfortunately, Canada’s new copyright legislation means you cannot legally download a tune, leaving this creative exchange dead in its tracks.

Let’s have a return to first principles and reiterate why we have copyright at all. The law’s top priority should be to nurture culture and help as many artists as possible earn a living from their talents. How the copyright law is structured determines how creative work can be shared and/or sold, which has direct impact on whether our artists can earn a decent income.

I’m unimpressed when the record companies claim that “villains” (such as the original Napster) are hurting music sales and that total industry revenue is in sharp decline. I don’t measure the health of the industry by total sales. I’m much more interested in how many musicians are gainfully employed.

If I had to choose between a set of laws that ensured Shania Twain raked in another $10-million or a set of laws where Shania made less, but 200 artists aspiring to be Stompin’ Tom Connors had the opportunity to have their music downloaded and promoted, I’d take the Stompin’ Toms any day. Technology needs to promote sharing, not thwart it. Music being shared means musicians having their music heard, which in turn results in more variety, more creativity and, ultimately, a more vibrant culture.

As the author of 10 books on technology and society, I staunchly defend the principle of copyright. However, I think it needs to be properly balanced with promotional opportunities. So I let anyone copy my material for personal use and educational purposes, and I post the first chapter of my books online. Eventually, I will post whole books for free because I believe that way I’ll end up selling more books. A recent review of my latest, The Naked Corporation, on Slashdot, a popular technology website, saw my site’s visitor logs swell from the resulting traffic. Technology promotes my work. The music industry needs to embrace this technological transparency and work with consumers to disseminate content in order to lay the groundwork for new talent.

The Canadian government is under major pressure from entertainment companies to replicate American copyright legislation, increase the scope of our copyright laws and crack down on teenage music-swapping evildoers. In late June, the government introduced legislation to do just that. The major difference, however, is unlike the MGM vs. Grokster case in the U.S., Canada’s new legislation absolves ISP providers from any liability regarding copyright infringements, leaving consumers to bear the burden of the industry’s unwillingness to adapt.

In trying to defend the legislation, the minister responsible, Liza Frulla, gave an interview in a music store and said that kids sharing music via the Internet was just the same as kids stealing CDs off the shelf, a truly specious analogy.

As our MPs debate the copyright legislation in the House of Commons, it would be nice to hear the government express support not just for the big record labels but also for the rights of consumers and actual musicians. Let us use technology. Let us videotape our young dancers. Let us share our songs. 

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Don Tapscott is a leading international consultant, author and speaker on information technology in society and business and the CEO of strategy company New Paradigm. Visit www.nplc.com or write to him at dtapscott@enroutemag.net.