More opposition is pouring out in a unified voice against Bill C-11. This time, it’s YouTuber J.J. McCullough and Nettwerk.
The opposition against Bill C-11 has been overwhelming for quite a while now. This includes online creators, digital rights organizations, and Music Canada. Adding to this is CRTC Chair, Ian Scott, repeatedly saying that Bill C-11 regulates user generated content.
Despite the near global consensus on what Bill C-11 will do, the Liberal party is still trying to pretend, falsely, that users will not regulate user generated content. In fact, the Heritage Ministry seems more intent on going full Donald Trump by not only never admitting that they are wrong, but also doubling down by pushing to silence and shut down debate on the legislation. However, this effort seems to have only been met with more voices speaking out against the legislation.
J.J. McCullough, who previously spoke out against Bill C-10 in the last government, is also speaking out against Bill C-11. He describes himself as a mid-tier YouTuber, but is looking at the legislation through the eyes of those who have made it as well as those who are up and coming YouTube stars. He posted his opening statements in the recent hearings:
McCullough is, of course, part of a long list of YouTuber’s who are opposed to Bill C-11. It’s definitely not a surprise that digital first online creators are generally opposed to the legislation. After all, their livelihoods are what is at stake here. The last thing they want to see is their revenues and their viewership drop off a cliff because the government decided that a legacy broadcaster should have their traffic. So, it’s basically the natural position to take when they understand what the bill actually represents.
Also joining the chorus of opposition is independent record label, Nettwerk. Nettwerk, if you have a very long memory, made headlines back in 2006 when they created the Save the Music Fan website. At the time, major record labels were trying to push mass file-sharing lawsuits in Canada – an effort that thankfully failed at the time. The organization showcased artists who didn’t think that suing everyone into oblivion wasn’t a good idea. In the years since, they have been a large voice for Canadian produced music as well.
So, as you can imagine for someone like myself, it’s quite a blast from the past to see the independent label, once again, joining the ranks of digital rights advocacy. Michael Geist posted their statement which shows the label railing against the legislation for all the right reasons:
.@NettwerkMusic comes out swinging against Bill C-11:
“Bill C11 represents legislation that is harmful to the Canadian music industry and that it will not achieve its stated or intended aims. It will hurt Canadian artists and Canadian music companies, not help them.” pic.twitter.com/i9ffio7uVe— Michael Geist (@mgeist) June 2, 2022
The record label says that Bill C-11 represents a fundamental misunderstanding of how music is promoted in a modern digital landscape. They comment how the bill would see the CRTC be part of the process of online promotion with no net benefit to Canadian musician’s and artists. They call this interference to how their content is promoted and shared online. Nettwerk says that social media is a significant tool for artists to grow their fanbase. Nettwerk says that regulations that affect user generated content would stifle this. They conclude by saying that Bill C-11, as currently drafted, would be harmful to the music industry and that it would not achieve its aims. As a result, the legislation stands to hurt artists, not help them.
Indeed, that is the same kind of findings we had about user generated content. About a year ago, we published a visualization of the effects of the then-called Bill C-10 legislation. This visualization also applies to Bill C-11. We combined the intended effect of the legislation with what we know about how recommendations and search results work. The effect was quite devastating to a standard content creator. So, really, this perspective falls in line with what we foresee as the effects of Bill C-11.
So, the droves of opposition to the legislation is certainly continuing. We can only see more voices come out as time goes on. This despite the Canadian government doing everything to ignore these voices and shut down debate as much as possible. At the very least, Canadian creators and advocates are, at the very least, registering their opposition to the legislation and making it clear that it should be sent to the trash where it belongs.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
