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The Gatineau Copyright Roundtable: Brief Summary

Having already posted the participant list and my opening remarks, I'll provide a brief summary of the copyright consultation roundtable in Gatineau last night.  A fuller report will be available when the government posts the transcript and audio of the event. 

While there were some big names from the rights holder community (CRIA, Access Copyright), the user perspective was well represented.  Indeed, there was a large consumer and education contingent that continually emphasized the need for more flexible fair dealing and the dangers of anti-circumvention legislation that is not linked to copyright infringement.  A quick synopsis of the various positions:

  1. Serge Sasseville, Quebecor – welcomed C-61, need for digital copyright reform, support notice-and-notice for ISPs
  2. John Lawford, PIAC – danger of anti-circumvention without link to copyright infringement, legalize time and format shifting, notice-and-notice, possibility of lawful access creeping into copyright
  3. Jeremy deBeer, University of Ottawa – Canadian copyright law among the best in the world, market solution, fair dealing reform, businesses that think DRM will basis for business model won't be in business for long
  4. Steve Wills, AUCC – Internet exception for education, anti-circumvention with link to copyright infringement
  5. Rick Theis, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations – anti-circumvention with link to copyright infringement, digital learning, library concerns
  6. Michael Geist, University of Ottawa full text of remarks here
  7. Violet Ford, Inuit Circumpolar Institute – traditional knowledge concerns
  8. Paul Jones, CAUT – fair dealing, anti-circumvention with link to copyright infringement, statutory damages reform
  9. Mathew Johnson, Media Awareness Network – anti-circumvention and fair dealing not inhibit media education
  10. Brian Boyle, Canadian Photographers Coalition – photography provision
  11. Diana Nemiroff, Canadian Museums Association – exhibition right, costs to museums
  12. Rosalie Fox, Canadian Association of Law Librarians – licences overriding fair dealing
  13. Laura Murray, Queen's University – fair dealing, anti-circumvention with link to copyright infringement
  14. David Keeble, Consultant – benefits in the value chain, monetize P2P, copyright tariffs based on consumption, not copying
  15. Roanie Levy, Access Copyright – fair dealing reforms inappropriate where collective licences available
  16. Nancy Morrelli, Association of Canadian Archivists – technological neutrality, restrictions on archiving
  17. Jay Kerr-Wilson, Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright – fair dealing, anti-circumvention with link to copyright infringement, limited regulatory intervention/levies, networks don't play enforcement role
  18. Graham Henderson, CRIA – balance, clear and predictable rules, foster innovation, framework consistent with international standards
  19. Jessica Litwin, Canadian Conference of the Arts – no position taken
  20. Fran Cutler, CNIB – specific reforms to perceptual disabilities provision

2 Comments

  1. Colin Broughton says:

    RIAA views on fairness are extreme
    http://tinyurl.com/la9hsx
    I think they are well over the top!
    Michael, did you hear these views expressed at the roundtable meeting?

  2. Steven C. Barr says:

    CMFIC
    I am the owner of about 55,057 old 78 rpm records. Under the current Canadian Copyright law, I could if I wish make available the contents of almost all of those; our current 50-year copyright term on sound recordings places every one of them “fixed” before January 1, 1959 is now “Public Domain!” However, across the border in the US Of A, ALL of them are still legally protected…and WILL BE until January 1, 2067! I am hoping that CRIA won’t be able to get this same “eternal” protection for my archive of 78’s…?!