Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Power of Backroom Lobbying: How the Music Industry Got a Copyright Extension

Posted by Soulskill on from the you-wouldn't-download-a-lobbyist dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The Canadian government's unexpected budget decision to extend the term of copyright for sound recordings came as a surprise to most copyright watchers, but not the music industry lobby, which was ready with a press release within minutes. How did the industry seemingly know this was coming? Michael Geist reports that records show the extension is the result of backroom lobbying with monthly meetings between senior government officials and music industry lobbyists paving the way for copyright term extension without public consultation or debate.

3 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. How? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bribes.

    Calling it lobbying is just sugar coating it.

  2. Freudian slip by tao · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For some reason I read that as "paying the way for copyright term extension". After realising that I'd misread it I corrected myself. Then corrected myself again when I realised that the misread version makes more sense.

  3. Re:No surprise by itzly · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Secret talks between government and industry isn't really democracy.