Re: [d@DCC] Death by Copyright Russell McOrmond wrote:
> Darryl Moore wrote:
>  > I am doing the final prep of the DVD-ROM which I plan to be sending to
>  > MPs by the end of next week.
> 
>   Could you author a sample letter that people could be encouraged to
> send to their own MPs to encourage them to look at the DVD?   You want
> to somehow encourage MPs to look at this stuff.
> 

Here is the letter that I am enclosing with the DVDs. A variation of 
this could be sent separately to encourage the MPs to look for the DVD 
in their inbox
---
Dear Honourable Member of Parliament,

The enclosed DVD-ROM is a collection of various kinds of art. The common 
thread that ties them all together is that they, their owners, and/or 
the artists who created them, have all suffered as a result of the 
unintended consequences of overly broad and inflexible copyright laws.

Most of the material on this DVD cannot be acquired through legitimate 
channels. Sadly, it is illegal. This DVD includes books, films, music, 
illustrations and much more, and it has been painstakingly acquired over 
the last couple of years in an attempt to catalogue some of the social 
cost of copyright laws. This is art and free expression which has been 
suppressed, despite the fact that no measurable damage could be claimed 
from its dissemination.  A great many of these examples are Canadian.

I am not calling for anything as radical as revoking copyright. I 
respect copyright, when copyright respects me. I am trying to 
demonstrate that there are real consequences for society and for artists 
when copyright laws focus too greatly on rights holders and not enough 
on creators and users.

Until recently, the creators' interests were closely aligned with the 
corporate interests (rights holders) that promoted them. With our new 
computer technologies, creativity and distribution is becoming much 
easier for all individuals. As a result, creators' interests are now 
much more in line with the end users. Our copyright laws need to reflect 
this.

As Parliament is about to, once again, consider changes to the Copyright 
Act, I urge you to review this DVD and consider the consequences.
At a time when we should be empowering individuals to use the new 
creative powers technology is giving them, the agenda of the big media 
companies is driving governments around the world in the opposite direction.

Thank you for your time.

---

>   As you'll note, I wrote a letter for the FLOSS MP package that the
> GOSLING group sent.
> 
> http://www.digital-copyright.ca/edid/letter3
> 
> 
>   I am wondering if you have contacted the folks at Appropriation Art to
> see what their thoughts are, given that much of this so-called "illegal
> art" is appropriation without permission (stuff that should be
> considered Fair Use, but might not be currently).
> 

Not yet, but they are on my list of about 30 people outside Parliament 
to receive copies.

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