The Internet is often referred to as a no-holds barred anarchistic territory, but that could change forever.
Earlier last month Canada signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is a multi-national free trade agreement between twelve countries, including Canada, Japan, Australia and even Chile. On the surface, the purpose of TPP was to remove barriers to promote international trade between both developed and emerging economies. But due to leaked documents, it has been confirmed that the issue of copyright could be a concern in regards to TPP.
On Oct.9, WikiLeaks released the TPP chapter on intellectual property and uncovered that as a part of TPP there would be criminal action taken with those who illegally download copyrighted material. Another requirement is that Internet service providers may be required to collect data on their customers as to try to report on breach of copyright.
Rumi Graham is the University Copyright Advisor and explained how trade partnerships and copyright do not mix. “The actual copyright act does not talk about trade elements, it just talks about rights that are given to the creators. So packaging something up like copyright and intellectual property alongside other kinds of property and other kinds of goods like cars, dairy, and cheese to me is a little bit absurd actually,” said Graham.
These new copyright restrictions could affect much more than just downloading the latest Hollywood blockbuster onto your hard drive, social media could be affected as well. Whether it is an image of Ryan Gosling or a video of the Calgary Flames highlight reel from the night before, these new copyright laws may infringe upon more than just our social media undertakings.
With these new laws in effect, it could become difficult for aspiring YouTube personalities to become noticed without fear of their videos being taken down or being taken to court.
Paige Kohlman is attending Lethbridge College in hopes of becoming an educational assistant and explained how her YouTube channel is being used to help others. “Basically my YouTube channel is a channel that inspires people to be the best that they can be. I talk a lot about people with disabilities and how we need to stop judging them, that we need to see them as equals,” said Kohlman.
Amir Mohsin, a university student and local aspiring artist explained that a lot of the content on YouTube that might breach new copyright restrictions could be used as an advantage. “It’s free advertising, but they are still trying to hunt down those people that are making it [the videos] and stop them in their tracks. I don’t really get it because then the only exposure that somebody has to your property is through your own marketing that you’re paying for so it’s really narrowing it down,” said Mohsin.
Not only would restricting copyright laws affect big business ability to make a profit, but it would also have a huge impact on aspiring artists as well. Mohsin explained how limiting himself to creating wholly original pieces of art has a negative impact on his ability to create the best product. “I either have to do the fan art and keep it to myself and nobody will ever see it, which is kind of hurtful to an artist because you don’t get the exposure. You don’t get anybody seeing your work and seeing what you’re up too,” said Mohsin.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership was finalized on Oct.5 and since then new information regarding the details of the trade partnership has continued to be released.
