Canadian music labels Wednesday called for tougher laws against illegal Internet music downloading in an appeal to politicians at midpoint of a federal election campaign.
The Canadian Recording Industry Assn. called attention to an opinion poll on Internet downloading that indicated 91% of Canadians surveyed favored copyright protection for music artists and creators to ensure that everyone gets paid for copies of their work.
"This should put some steel in their spine," CRIA president Graham Henderson said of federal politicians now campaigning ahead of a January 23 general election. "Canadians overwhelmingly understand that musicians and other artists are harmed by illegal file-swapping and deserve better protection under the law."
The four majors -- Sony BMG, Warner, EMI and Universal -- and about 400 independent labels have been stymied in the past when urging Ottawa to stamp out Web pirates.
Henderson said federal politicians gave his lobby a fair hearing, but bureaucrats in the capital of Ottawa appeared set against introducing regulations and laws to control the Internet.
