Archive for May 21st, 2013

Canadian Library Association on Access Copyright Lawsuit

The Canadian Library Association issued a statement late last week on the Access Copyright lawsuit filed against York University, urging it to abandon the lawsuit and pointing to several legal concerns.

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May 21, 2013 1 comment News

Competition Bureau To Investigate Google Canada

The National Post reports that the Competition Bureau of Canada plans to launch an investigation into Google Canada. The scope of the investigation is unknown.

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May 21, 2013 Comments are Disabled News

Next on the Canadian Copyright Reform Agenda: Clean Up the Mess at the Copyright Board

With the latest phase of Canadian copyright reform now complete, the government may soon turn to the question of what comes next. Given last year’s major legislative overhaul and the landmark series of copyright decisions from the Supreme Court of Canada, significant substantive changes are unlikely to be on the agenda for the foreseeable future.

Instead, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) argues that it is time for the government to set its sights on the Copyright Board of Canada, a relatively obscure regulatory body that sets the fees to be paid for the use of copyright works. The Board is largely unknown in public circles, but it has played a pivotal role in establishing the costs associated with private copying (including a one-time iPod levy), educational copying, and the use of music by Canadian broadcasters.

The litany of complaints about the Board has mounted in recent years: the public rarely participates in its activities due to high costs, it moves painfully slowly by only issuing a handful of decisions each year, and its rules encourage copyright collectives and users to establish extreme positions that make market-driven settlements more difficult.

Moreover, over the past ten months, the Supreme Court has ruled that its approach to fair dealing was unreasonable, the Board itself admitted to palpable error in a decision that resulted in a hugely inflated tariff, and it has ignored the will of Parliament in reshaping Canadian copyright law. The Board may keep a steady stream of lawyers and economists busy, but it is time to acknowledge that it is broken.

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May 21, 2013 3 comments Columns

Time to Clean Up the Mess at the Copyright Board

Appeared in the Toronto Star on May 18, 2013 as It’s Time to Admit the Copyright Board is Broken With the latest phase of Canadian copyright reform now complete, the government may soon turn to the question of what comes next. Given last year’s major legislative overhaul and the landmark […]

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May 21, 2013 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive