The Venstre, or Liberal Party, is the country's seventh largest
party and holds 10 of the Norwegian Parliament's 169 seats with
5.9% of the vote. Its Congress has just adopted file-sharing as
official policy.
"The Liberal Party Congress states that today's legal frameworks
for copyrights are not adapted to a modern society," said a party
resolution. "Copyright law is outdated. A society where culture and
knowledge is free and accessible by everyone on equal terms is a
common good. Large distributors and copyright owners systematically
and widely misuse copyright, and thereby stall artistic development
and innovation. Therefore, the Liberal Party wants to reinstate the
balance in copyright law."
Laws should only limit file-sharing in order to limit their use
to only personal use, and to ban commercial distribution without
payment to copyright holders. The party has also called for a
relaxation on the laws of sampling copyrighted material, a
reduction in the life of copyright and a ban on digital rights
management technology.
Scandinavian countries are at the forefront of consumer
opposition to the control exerted over material by copyright
holding corporations, most commonly of music companies over music.
Sweden already has The Pirate Party, a fringe party which grew out
of a protest at the shutting down of a file-sharing links
website.
In Norway and Sweden consumers groups are also taking action
against restrictions on the use of music. The Consumer Council of
Norway complained to the Consumer Ombudsman that Apple's licence
terms for iTunes-bought music broke Norwegian consumer protection
law, and the Ombudsman ruled against Apple.
"It is wrong to make an entire generation of criminals," said
vice chairwoman of the Liberal Party, Trine Skei Grande. "We
managed to make compensation models when the photocopier was
invented, but we haven't managed to do anything about modern
technology. The law must adapt to the citizens and the impact of
technological innovation."
Though the Liberal Party is unlikely to form a government on its
own, Norway is mostly run by coalition governments dominated by the
Labour Party, so its policies could form part of a government
programme without it having to win an election outright.
The adoption of such a policy would be likely to cause Norway
diplomatic problems, particularly with the US, the centre of the
multinational entertainment industry. The US is said to be exerting
significant diplomatic pressure on Russia because controversial
website Allofmp3.com is based there. The US is said to be opposing
Russia's entry into the World Trade Organisation while the site
operates in Russia.
Though Norway is not a member of the European Union, so is not
bound by EU Directives on copyright, it is a member of the World
Intellectual Property Organisation and the World Trade
Organisation, neither of which is likely to look favourably on a
file-sharing policy.
The Liberal Party does recognise that international agreements
will be a factor in the adopting of any such policy. "International
law regulates most of these questions," said Skei Grande. "I have
yet to conclude on everything regarding these complex problems, but
I have faith in this as a radical and modern solution that still
ensures artists' rights to revenue and attribution."
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