Pirate Party - Commandeering Copyright Restrictions

Pirate Party Hopes to Commandeer Copyright Restrictions.

Borne of a Swedish injustice, where torrent site Pirate Bay’s founders were sentenced to jail time and fined millions spawning an outraged public and a will of resistance, the pirate party was created. A one issue party, which has made headway overseas gaining an electoral win in Sweden, has sailed to Canada. The party hopes to do battle on behalf of Canadians who may suffer the consequences of the Conservatives revived fervour against copyright restrictions.

The pirate party advocates open file sharing without restriction, as long as it is for personal use. The impact that such an approach would have on the music industry, is argued by some industry professionals as being negative - depriving artists of much needed revenue as CD sales plummet. But the pirate party maintains that they want to be an agent of artistic expression and that current laws are stifling to artists.

Kevin Andrethuk, guitarist and vocalist of local darlings The Paperbacks, finds the whole copyright/file sharing debate to be archaic and propagated by those in the music industry whose primary concerns are economic ones.

“People who are panicking and are scrambling because the industry is changing are those who are a part of large corporations. It’s a self-interest thing for them. Indie bands don’t feel that same pressure from the labels. Bands who have a problem with file sharing are the ones on major labels who stand to make a lot of money. The industry is changing and they want to maintain a cushy lifestyle.”

Andrethuk emphasized that file sharing is seen as an essential tool for the promotion of indie bands.

“If you’re going on tour you want to share your music with people who may not have access to a hard copy of the CD, and then hopefully those people will come out to your shows. The best way for us to expose people to our music is through the internet. In the local scene and throughout Canada, nobody has a problem with file sharing. It’s not even a topic of discussion. There are a lot of positive things associated with it.”