It's a story we hear, over and over and over again. The illegal download of digital music files is hurting the earnings of musicians and record companies world wide.
Well, in Canada, it's refreshing to see musicians band together, form a coalition (Canadian Music Creators Coalition), and petition Ottawa for sensible solutions in recuperating the loss.

Some of the biggest names in Canadian music feel strongly that harsh copyright laws that make it easier for record companies to sue fans for digital file sharing isn't the right way to go.

Today, Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies, alongside Brendon Canning of Broken Social Scene, sat down with Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda and Industry Minister Maxime Bernier to ask them to lay off Canadian Digital Music Fans.

"This effort is not about giving our music away, it's about encouraging innovative approaches that will compensate musicians and protect music fans from litigation," Page said Monday in a release.

These artists, for which Page and Canning spoke on their behalf of, feel"This effort is not about giving our music away, it's about encouraging innovative approaches that will compensate musicians and protect music fans from litigation," Page said Monday in a release.

It's exciting to hear that through the din of big record labels pushing for ease to sue, artists on the other hand are looking for a solution to regain lost revenue, but, still allows the medium of digital file sharing to evolve. In fact, it's quite possible that harsher penalties within the copyright law may just squash ingenuity all together and prevent newer more exciting digital music models from being developped.

It is important for the politicians to take their cue from the artists themselves and not from the record labels. NDP Heritage critic, Charlie Angus said, "This issue is about artists who have adapted to new digital markets and an industry that is trying to use legislation to impose a 20th-century business model on a new generation of fans. There is no going back. Canadian bands have thrived and adapted. It's time Parliament woke up to this fact."

The coalition includes musicians Sam Roberts, Broken Social Scene, the Barenaked Ladies, Sum 41, Billy Talent, Bob Ezrin, Feist, Stars, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), Dave Bidini (Rheostatics), John K. Samson (Weakerthans), Sloan, the Stampeders and Randy Bachman.

The Canadian Recording Industry Association has been pressing for tighter controls on how music is distributed, saying the industry has lost close to $6 million in retail sales since the advent of online music trading.

Association president Graham Henderson scoffed Monday at the idea of bringing in more levies on blank media, noting how unpopular the existing tax is. He said legal downloading is available now that gives music lovers the songs they want and pays artists for their work.