Appearing in Monday's National Post, A Barenaked guide to music copyright reform is a statement by Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page on behalf of the the newly-formed Canadian Music Creators Coalition.

Including Canadian artists such as Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41, Broken Social Scene, Stars, Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, Dave Bidini of Rheostatics, Billy Talent, John K. Sampson of Weakerthans, Sloan, Andrew Cash, Bob Wiseman, a co-founder of Blue Rodeo, and of course the Barenaked Ladies, the CMCC aims to promote changes to music copyright law that will "protect artists and consumers, not restrictive technologies."

I'm actually surprised this didn't happen sooner. It's great to finally see some artists from major labels speaking out against prosecution of MP3 file sharers and the tightening of controls over media that threatens to drive away paying fans.

As a great fan of the Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Our Lady Peace and Blue Rodeo, it's especially heartening to see so many of my favourite artists working to free their music so that I can continue to support them and enjoy their work a paying fan for years to come.