Re$earch Money reports that the Conservative government has fired Dr. Arthur Carty and closed the Office of the National Science Advisor. Carty was well-respected and took a strong stand for open access during his tenure. Update: CBC provides coverage of the story.
Archive for January 21st, 2008
Australia Launches a Copyright Consultation
Australia has launched a new copyright consultation on private copying of films and photos to determine whether its current list of exceptions could be expanded.
Frith Leaves CMPDA
Variety reports that Douglas Frith, the head of the CMPDA, will be leaving at the end of the month. Wendy Noss takes over as the new director of the association.
Fair Copyright for Canada Local Chapters Grow Again
Add Kitchener-Waterloo and York Region to the list of chapters.
The CCC on Copyright Reform
The Creators' Copyright Coalition is out this morning with its position on copyright reform. The CCC includes many large creator associations and copyright collectives. Though there are some notable exceptions – the Canadian Music Creators Coalition, Appropriation Art, and the Documentary Organization of Canada to name three – there are some important voices here.
While the government's focus on copyright reform has centred on new technologies, the CCC's position paper seems to focus primarily on non-digital issues. Indeed, the CCC is clearly troubled by the growing concern from users (it talks of "the tendency to privilege users") and of the Supreme Court of Canada's emphasis on balancing copyright (it laments that users are "now officially part of an on-going process of striking a 'necessary balance'"). The position paper sets out to scale back user concerns by dropping the SCC's balance objective to one where the "Copyright Act's main objective is to protect the moral and economic rights of creators." Moreover, it seeks to limit the fair dealing provision, by specifically excluding any commercial purposes from within its ambit.
In addition to shifting away from a copyright balance, the CCC looks at copyright reform primarily as the opportunity to introduce new rights and fees. In particular:


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