News

Macleans on C-32 & Fair Dealing: Claims of Rampant Copying “Grossly Exaggerated”

Macleans education blog has a post on Bill C-32 and the extension of the fair dealing provision to education.  The post gets beyond the misinformation campaign to set the record straight:

“the claims that the addition of education as a fair dealing category will lead to the erosion of the Canadian publishing industry and rampant copying of materials completely free of charge are grossly exaggerated. The change will only help clarify what kind of copying is acceptable in an educational setting and allow educators to expand their lesson plans to use a myriad of technologies outside of traditional print materials.”

Meanwhile, OCAD President Sara Diamond has an excellent op-ed on the issue, emphasizing the reality that fair dealing involves a two-part test which helps ensure that any qualifying dealing is fair.

38 Comments

  1. It's what I say, not who I am says:

    The law says…but what will students really do?
    Will students follow the six part test in everything they do, to make sure that they are paying for everything they should be paying for? Or will they be learning and sharing the many, many cool new technologies that help them SAVE their money? Gee, I don’t know…


  2. Since Michael also posted the “Have the Liberal switched position[…] tweet…

    I think that by now positions are already taken and any further discussion in the committee is done just to show “democracy”.

    The conservatives will follow C-32 to the letter since that’s what Hollywood instructed them to do (we have Mr. Clement’s involuntary “confession” on this).

    NDP will follow Mr. Angus position about locks. Not sure what they’ll do about levies but that’s a separate issue.

    The liberals are playing politics, fishing around counting money and votes to see which position would serve them best. So in the end they will decide but whatever discussions we have won’t really matter. It will be about elections.

    Nap.

  3. Oh the irony …
    @It’s what I say, not who I am …

    [Intentional paraphrase] “Will creators and the content industry follow tax law and moral guidelines to make sure that they are paying for everything they should be paying for? Or will they be learning and sharing the many, many cool new loopholes that help them SAVE their money? Gee, I don’t know…”

    “One of the main spokesmen for the Quebec artists’ coalition to tax us more is Luc Plamondon, a famous songwriter. Even though he has worked for most of his life in Quebec, we learned a few years ago his permanent address for more than five years was in Ireland, when the country exonerated artists from paying income taxes. When this privilege was abolished by the Irish government in 2006, Plamondon deserted the Emerald Isle to find refuge in another fiscal paradise, Switzerland, where he brought a $3.6-million luxury condo.”

  4. The Star article
    Cool. Now we know exactly whom the “starving artists” are. Anyone knows the “net worth” of Charlebois too?

    Nap.


  5. Never mind. You can figure it out from here:

    http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sleeman+to+buy+Unibroue.-a0116671016

    Nap.

  6. As if all artists are that rich… Plamondon is one artist among thousands – hardly a reflection of reality.

  7. @It’s what I say, not who I am
    “Will students follow the six part test in everything they do, to make sure that they are paying for everything they should be paying for? Or will they be learning and sharing the many, many cool new technologies that help them SAVE their money? Gee, I don’t know…”

    Unfortunately, if you push too hard students will turn to cheaper or free sources. I’ve done 5 masters computing courses. Other than the book that came with course, everything I used was freely available on the Web through the library and various agreements made with hundreds of different journals and publications cover ALL areas from the fine arts to advanced mathematics. In preparation for my thesis I purchased several books through Abebooks.ca which is generally VASTLY cheaper than new. Some new, some used, some, oddly, arived from India and I’m pretty sure they’re not “legit” copies, but that wasn’t stated on Abe as I specifically avoided such vendors. I ended up spending $600 on books that would have cost me well over $1500 new. Unfortunately, I never actaully ended up doing the theseis. Two little boys and a working wife keep me busy to the point hat I just don’t have time at the moment.

  8. Those who live in gilded castles should not toss rocks …
    Yet, Plamondon is ‘One of the main spokesmen for the Quebec artists’ coalition’? Hardly leading by example. This highlights another point I often bring up. The content/creative industry has a very long way to go in the PR dept. if they want to get consumers on their side. They should hire someone who understands real people rather that those who are ‘hardly a reflection of reality.’


  9. @John: “As if all artists are that rich… Plamondon is one artist among thousands – hardly a reflection of reality. ”

    Maybe but it is exactly Plamondon and Charlebois who stormed Ottawa.

    So can we argue that they’re not representative and should be ignored?

    Nap.


  10. As for the arteestec part, Charlebois hasn’t recorded anything since 2001 and his discography is described by Starpulse in these terms:

    “Charlebois’ discography is a mess of eponymous albums, countless reissues under different titles, and cheap “best-of” collections.”

    Nap.

  11. Students
    May I remind here that the simplest form of “P2P” network is two notebooks connected through a cable. And these days it works wireless too. No Internet needed either.

    So to those salivating at the thought of lawsuits and levies. Enforce that in a campus. ROFLMAO.

    Nap.

  12. Anarchist Philanthapist says:

    Starving Artists… what a misnomer. If someone is truly starving they will get a job or they will change careers. But anyone DUMB enough to try and survive as an artist alone in this day and age needs to have their head examined.

  13. @Crockett PR comment
    To sum up how I take it, artists who want to try and win people to their side should make sure that the people speaking for them are not as far from what they claim as they generally are.

    And it would be horribly ironic if Luc Plamondon was one of the people hit by the government for tax evasion.

  14. So there we go – a campaign post from Michael Geist, smartly criticized for its bias and logical flaws, that results in the following wave of Geistbot comments:

    – all politicians are bad
    – oh yeah?, let me rephrase your words so you look bad (because I can’t think up my own words)
    – wealthy artists should shut up
    – wealthy artists should have their rights ignored
    – wealthy artists suck at art
    – students can easily break any copyright law anyway, hahahahaha, try to stop them because they WILL do it
    – anyone who can’t make money at art is dumb and should stop trying
    – artists who speak out on copyright are probably tax evaders

    It’s a beautiful day in Mr. Geist’s neighbourhood. I can’t imagine how anyone would think he encourages an anti-artist bias.


  15. Our “friend” Loreena has a new CD out:

    http://www.amazon.com/Wind-That-Shakes-Barley/dp/B0043ZDU1E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291918645&sr=8-1

    Guess if I’ll bother. Especially since the title track (“The Wind that Shakes the Barley”) doesn’t hit me in the right spot. Espeacially not after the version done by “Dead Can Dance” on their 2008 album:

    http://www.amazon.com/Into-Labyrinth-Dead-Can-Dance/dp/B001FZ0A7W/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1

    Their “Wind…” went directly into the demo collections of expensive Hi-Fi equipment shops.

    nap.


  16. Here some info on Lisa Gerrard from “Dead Can Dance”.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Gerrard

    I’ll leave it to you to compare Loreena with her. All I’ll say is that Lisa’s voice is indeed “jaw-dropping”, and I’ll underline this paragraph:

    “Also in 2009, Lisa Gerrard created her own record label, Gerrard Records, which, aside from being a conduit for the release of Gerrard’s future works will also act to promote and support unrecognized artists of all genres.”

    Quite a different approach than promoting DRM, levies and storming Ottawa posing as a “starving artist”.

    Nap.

  17. Creative writing 101 …
    Degen, it’s funny sometimes you only see your side. The first post is titled “It’s what I say, not who I am” implying that users are just going to rip off creators because of course ‘All users are bad’.

    As for using someone else’s words to make a point, it is this little artistic vehicle called satire. It is especially pertinent when it incorporates the views and behavior of one who purports to represent the demographic of one who made original comment. No it’s not poetry, but it is amusing and relevant to the point of character over self interest.

  18. A few suggested additional lines …
    – wealthy artists representing creator groups should practice what they preach
    – Creator groups may want to reconsider who speaks on their behalf
    – major Hollywood studios should be careful to accuse their customers of theft when claiming their properties such as ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Harry Potter’ are money loosers … no taxes to the government or extra royalties to the artists to pay on that.

    Faith in certain corporations and institutions to structure the world as you envision is only as realistic as the respect people have for those bodies. Showing character and good will would be a much more successful tactic than accusations and limiting expected rights.

    If you want to win this ‘war’ then best to take the high ground.


  19. @Crockett: “Degen, it’s funny sometimes you only see your side.”

    I would say that “sometimes” is a gross understatement.

    Nap. 🙂

  20. “If you want to win this ‘war’ then best to take the high ground. ”

    At this point the ‘war’ is to deep into the ‘trenches’ that neither side can get anyway. Consumers (some anyway) feel like they are being treated like criminals for wanting to consume media the way they want without stupid extras that treat you like your out to break the law no matter what. Creators (some anyway, which I could count John under) only see that people want to try and get stuff for free without ever having to pay them. Neither side is really willing to give any ground.

    Though I do really find it kind of funny that most of the studies I’ve seen about music sharing show that the people who download music online illegally are generally the ones who tend to buy more music, where the other way tends to make a lot of assumptions with numbers. That should tell creators something about what the new world that they need to move into might look like. My honest impression though is that most are too scared to move into this world because the guarantees of income that they had in the previous analog world don’t apply in the digital Internet age.

    * Note: I use the term creator to mean those who both create and distribute content.

  21. john walker says:

    Athabasca University decides not to renew Access Copyright license

    http://excesscopyright.blogspot.com/2010/12/athabasca-university-decides-not-to.html


  22. @Michael: I’ve heard you today in the committee hearings pleading for open access to laws, statutes and regulations.

    Do you think the liberals would approve:

    http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/904776–liberals-kept-g20-law-secret-for-weeks-before-summit?bn=1

    Nap.

  23. New business models
    We definitely need them in Canada too:

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/10/righthaven_sues_drudge/

    Not.

    Nap. 🙂

  24. Someone needs a stern talking too …
    @Nap – We need to take ‘legalized’ predatory umm.. lawyers and stand them up against a vertical surface.

  25. Napalm, Loreena McKennit has her own label as well. As does this queen of the indie artist:

    http://bit.ly/hcfr9w

  26. There are obvious ,very serious, issues of monopoly anti-competitive practices involved in ACs claims for tariffs and about many of the other proposals to replace copyright with transaction tariffs– Dosn’t Canada have modern ‘trade practices , anti-trust ‘ laws?

    In Australia A eminent wealthy elderly business man was jailed for cartel practices that look by comparison small beer.

  27. @Degen RE:Ani DiFranco
    Seems to me that in her anti-corporate quest, she struck the wrong balance and is now paying the price. The unfortunate part of running your own business is that quite often, if it’s struggling, something has to give to keep it going. Family is the easiest part of life to take time from. I’ve seen it many times.

    Now in regards to not wanting to perform…that is her choice and not in any way the responsibility of the consumer. Many female performing artists have babies or truck their children around on the road. While I don’t consider it an ideal life for a kid, it’s certainly not uncommon. Sarah McLaughlan manages just fine, Anette Olzon from Nightwish has two children (One being newborn), Sharon Den Adel from Within Temptation has small children and recorded the “Black Symphony” concert while pregnant, and even Celine Dion manages to make dates with her children. Those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Performing artists are not a lot of good if they’re NOT performing.


  28. @Degen: “Napalm, Loreena McKennit has her own label as well. ”

    She doesn’t seem to be using it:

    # Audio CD (November 16, 2010)
    # Original Release Date: 2010
    # Number of Discs: 1
    # Label: Verve
    # ASIN: B0043ZDU1E

    Wonder if she’s still using some DRM stuff. Who cares, I’m not buying this anyway.

    Nap.


  29. IanME:

    May I also sit home, raise kids, and have a steady income from levies on work I did sometime in the past?

    And how do you call an income for those not working, obtained through taxes on those that do?

    Nap.


  30. @IanME:

    Here’s my idea. Let’s have an association, something like “Canadian Guild of Computer Programmers”. Our work is “Intellectual Property” and subjected to copyright too, and it is pirated at least as much as music and movies. And, more than that, it is assaulted through all kind of globalization/offshoring deals.

    Then let’s storm Ottawa and ask for levies on all computer related hardware and materials.

    Nap the “starving programmer”


  31. ‘Nap the “starving programmer”‘

    HAHAHA. Unfortunately, as programmers, we usually sign some sort of agreement to say the stuff we write is not ours and, I don’t know about you but, I don’t run home after work and start writing code. That being said, I have written certain things for my own use, primarily to deal an extract from the software I use to maintain with my DVD library. I could even probably release it since there is call for such a tool on the DVD Profiler forums, but then I would have to make it look pretty and actually build a GUI interface and I really can’t be bothered because I HATE building GUIs in Java. 🙂

    Hey, but I’m all for sitting on my butt at home and collecting levies…maybe I’d write more then. HAHAHA


  32. @IanME: “HAHAHA. Unfortunately, as programmers, we usually sign some sort of agreement to say the stuff we write is not ours […]”

    Yes but that’s exactly what the artists do when they transfer their “copyright” rights to “the industry”.

    They say the levy is to compensate for “lost sales” due to piracy and so on.

    I want a part of that levy too. As my boss also has “lost sales” due to piracy/private copying and everything. He could have given me a higher salary if those sales were actually made.

    Look at it closely. Photographers and software developers are exactly in the same position as the musicians, yet it is only the musicians that should get the results of the levy? Isn’t software copied on the same blank CDs that musicians complain of?

    The levy is unfair. It should be shared by all professionals that produce copyrighted materials that get copied/pirated.

    Nap.


  33. If you look at it that way, absolutely!!! In fact, pirated software is MUCH more often put on CDs these days than music is.

  34. @Nap “Yes but that’s exactly what the artists do when they transfer their “copyright” rights to “the industry”.”

    No, actually, it’s not. Producing work for an employer, to their specifications, is something completely different, and the current Copyright Act already recognizes this in section 13(3).


  35. @K.M.: “No, actually, it’s not. Producing work for an employer, to their specifications, is something completely different, and the current Copyright Act already recognizes this in section 13(3). ”

    Good to know. This still leaves the shareware authors in exactly the same position as the “arteests”.
    So why exactly they wouldn’t be entitled to a share of this levy bounty.

    And how about photographers too. Many are freelance.

    And my question is why the “arteests” go for contracts schemes that leaves them “starving”. It’s their choice, they should bear the consequences.

    Nap.

  36. hmmmm
    After doing a bit more digging, how is Ani DiFranco even relevant to the discussions here? She is an American Artist, living in the US and wouldn’t be one who collects levies anyway. …and her child would be about 4 now, so not so new-born as you’ve let on John, ahhh but I see the article itself of almost 2 and a half years old…something I didn’t notice the first couple times I looked at it. As I said, it’s her own anti-corporate business model that put her in the position she’s in, if she truely is hurting, she’s gone too far the other way. It’s fine to take an anti-corporate/anti-RIAA/anti-big label/pro-consumer stance, but one has to leave some room to actually make some money. There is a middle-ground that artists and labels must find.

  37. “It’s a beautiful day in Mr. Geist’s neighbourhood. I can’t imagine how anyone would think he encourages an anti-artist bias.”

    Geist has an open website. All sorts of people post here, on both sides of the equation. Yes, more people here are going to be resistant to blind expansion of copyright, and others are going to be reactionary. That doesn’t mean that Geist doesn’t have valuable commentary. Or would you prefer a “neighbourhood” where all share your biases and opinions?


  38. @Jesse: “Or would you prefer a “neighbourhood” where all share your biases and opinions? ”

    He already has that:

    http://balancedcopyrightforcanada.ca/

    Nap. 🙂