OTTAWA — Tough copyright laws that make it easier for record companies to sue fans for digital file sharing are the wrong way to go, some of the biggest names in Canadian music told federal politicians Monday.

Barenaked Ladies front man Steven Page and Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning were among those who met with Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda and Industry Minister Maxime Bernier to ask them to lay off digital music lovers.

Page said he and his colleagues, members of the newly formed Canadian Music Creators Coalition, don't want Ottawa to bring in copyright laws that make it easier to sue those who download or to prevent digital music from being played on different formats.

"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.

Page has suggested compensating the industry through levies imposed on blank media - something already being done with blank CDs.

He complained that the debate over bringing in legal restrictions has been dominated by big recording companies. He called on politicians to take their cue from the artists themselves.

NDP Heritage critic Charlie Angus warned that restrictive copyright legislation could be used to squash the development of new digital distribution models, sue kids who share music files and impose fees on the educational use of the Internet.

Speaking at a news conference alongside Page, Canning, and musician Andrew Cash, Angus said that digital downloading is not the death knell of Canadian music, but rather the door to new and exciting opportunities for bands across the musical spectrum.

"This is not a debate between bands who want to give music away and bands who want to be paid," said Angus, a two-time Juno nominee with the band Grievous Angels.

"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.