'Prey to thievery': The Canadian Recording Industry Association and the Canadian copyright lobby, 1997 to 2005

This is a case study that weighs the influence of a long-term lobbying campaign by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), representing the multinational recording companies Warner, EMI, Sony-BMG, and Universal. In 1997, Canada signaled its intent to reform copyright for the digital age. CRIA ran a powerful lobby for heavier regulation of digital content, but Canadian policy makers resisted CRIA's key proposals, which were viewed as controversial and potentially unpopular. CRIA used its influence with politicians to bypass the bureaucracy and incorporate some of its key aims in a bill introduced in Parliament, but which did not pass before the 2006 general election. The popular emergence of home computing and digital entertainment has increased public awareness about copyright policy, raising the question of whose interests it serves. In this environment it will be increasingly difficult for the content industries to influence copyright policy as they have traditionally.