WALTER - KEYNOTE
COPYRIGHT, CREATIVITY AND CANADA

Walter F. McDonough is the General Counsel and one of the founders of the Future of Music Coalition. He will be discussing the migration of distribution from the physical to how the digital has had a profound and disruptive impact on the entertainment industry. Throughout the world, industries and governments are attempting to adapt to this new reality. From “three strikes and you’re out” to P2P licensing concepts, a myriad of ideas have been proposed to monetize internet uses. Some studies indicate that 95 per cent of all downloads are unauthorized. If this is true, what is the proper way for creative industries to react? How does this affect musicians and songwriters, and how can they prosper and grow under these circumstances? And, finally, does this mean that the actual music will get better?