TORONTO — Warning that Canada is lagging behind in the digital music revolution, the head of the international recording industry called on the new Conservative government to enact tougher copyright laws.

Paid downloads of songs jumped from zero to six per cent of music revenue globally in the last two years, John Kennedy, president of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, told delegates at Canadian Music Week.

But in Canada, the figure sits at about two per cent, meaning fewer people are turning to online stores like iTunes to buy music and instead are likely downloading them for free.

He blamed archaic laws that don't account for the digital age.

"Canada remains far behind virtually all its peers in the industrial world in its efforts to bring copyright laws up to date with the reality of the global digital network environment," the London-based executive said.

A study by his organization found that in the U.K and Germany - where tougher copyright laws were enacted - the number of people buying music from online stores exceeds those downloading for free.

Canadians, said Kennedy, should be adapting to digital music stores faster than the rest of the world.

"(Canada) should be ahead by any normal measure because you've got the biggest broadband penetration in the world apart from South Korea," he said later in an interview.

Strengthening intellectual property rights would cause more dollars to flow to artists, Kennedy suggested.

When asked why the Canadian music scene - despite the apparent flaws in the copyright system - seems to be doing better than ever thanks to bands like Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and Hot Hot Heat, he said new artists will always come through.

"It's a question if, at the end of the day, they're going to make a living and going to be able to treat this as their profession," he said. "This is an industry not flourishing by any stretch of the imagination."

His remarks coincided with a report from the Canadian Recording Industry Association showing that music sales fell four per cent in 2005 compared with the previous year.

Downloading music for free is not illegal in Canada. The Liberal government tried to change the law with Bill C-60, offering the music and film industries protection from Internet piracy, but the legislation died on the order paper when the last federal election was called.

Newly appointed Heritage Minister Beverley Oda has said in recent interviews that she's in favour of copyright reform.

Kennedy said members of his international group were in Ottawa on Thursday and Friday for briefings with Heritage representatives including Oda.

Copyright experts attending Canadian Music Week agreed Canada needs to step up its game.

"Canada can't afford to do nothing. It's difficult for a lot of people who want to license things (for online use)," said Walter McDonough, an intellectual property lawyer in Boston and founder of the Future of Music Coalition, an artists' advocacy group.

He said among other problems, Canada lacks clear rules for royalties on songs used for podcasts.

About 60 million portable digital music players, such as IPods, were sold worldwide last year. Their popularity helped generate over $1 billion in digital music sales in 2005, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.