The Vancouver Sun reports on how the B.C. government is using crown copyright to constrain the publication of documents released under freedom of information legislation.
B.C. Government Uses Copyright To Block Access to Information
2 Comments
Recent Posts
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 161: Canadian Chamber of Commerce President Perrin Beatty on Why the Government’s Bill C-18 Motion Establishes a Dangerous, Undemocratic Precedent 
The Biden Visit to Canada: Why Digital Policy is Emerging as a Serious Trade Tension 
The Government’s Fishing Expedition: Why the Bill C-18 Motion Establishes a Dangerous Precedent For Those Who Dare to Oppose Legislation 
Canadian Chamber of Commerce Warns on Government-Backed Bill C-18 Motion: “A Serious Threat to the Privacy of Canadians” 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 160: Peter Carrescia on Why Patents Won’t Solve Canada’s Innovation Problem
Fair Use?
The fact that the BC gov’t would even do that is a gross misrepresentation of the intent of copyright (to protect authors from knock-offs and plagiarism). Further, the transparency of this attempt at censorship under the guise of adhering to the FOI is galling. I hope somebody gets canned over this, though I doubt it.
I wonder though, and perhaps this is a leading question, does BC/Canada not have fair use provisions that would cover publication in the press for purposes of criticisms and/or reporting?
Private government?
It boggles the mind how any government publication could be copyright protected in the first place. Isn\’t the government publicly funded? Maybe not.