Archive for November, 2018

Should Universities Opt Out of Access Copyright? @HowardKnopf @RoanieLevy Debate #congressh #caljacrs14 by Giulia Forsythe https://flic.kr/p/nvbkJN (CC0 1.0)

Misleading on Fair Dealing, Part 1: Access Copyright’s Inconsistent Claims on the Legal Effect of the 2012 Fair Dealing Reforms

Fair dealing has unsurprisingly emerged as one of the dominant topics of the ongoing Canadian copyright review. While educational institutions maintain that spending on content has increased since the 2012 reforms that added education to the list of fair dealing purposes, Access Copyright and the publishing community argue that licensing revenues have declined. Starting today, I’ll be posting a series on fair dealing that unpack many of the issues and demonstrate why House of Commons committees studying the issue may have been misled by exaggerated and inaccurate claims.

The series starts with the foundational argument from Access Copyright and its supporters, namely that current educational practices are the result of the 2012 copyright reforms that led to a significant expansion of fair dealing. The implication is that the government broke their compensation system in 2012 and should “fix it” by curtailing educational use of fair dealing. Future posts will explain why licensing has actually increased since 2012, but this post is limited to the oft-heard claim that the 2012 reforms are to “blame” for current educational practices.

Read more ›

November 19, 2018 11 comments News
Counterfeiting Don't Pay by Seth Werkheiser (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/EPn4r

“You’re Misleading Us”: Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network Calls for Elimination of Court Oversight For Border Seizures

Bell’s promotion of a site blocking system in Canada – rejected by the CRTC on jurisdictional grounds – was grounded in the view that it could establish a mandated blocking approach without court orders. That placed the Canadian proposal off-side the vast majority of site blocking systems around the world, but it also pointed to mounting efforts to exclude the courts from the realm of copyright enforcement. For example, the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network recently appeared before the Industry committee to argue for legislative reforms that would eliminate court oversight for seizures at the border. In its place, the group argued that customs authorities should be empowered to seize and destroy goods without court review.

Read more ›

November 12, 2018 2 comments News
Omnibus by David (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/j4vM7Q

Tinkering With Copyright in Bill C-68: My Appearance Before the Standing Committee on Finance

I appeared earlier this week before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance as part of its review of Bill C-86, the Budget Implementation Act. The bill features extensive intellectual property provisions arising out of the IP strategy referenced in Budget 2018. My comments were consistent with previous posts on the changes to notice-and-notice, patents, and the Copyright Board.  My opening remarks are posted below.

Read more ›

November 9, 2018 1 comment Committees, News
Kodi 17 by Pierre Lecourt https://flic.kr/p/RBfMXn (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

No Need for New Internet Injunctions: Why Canadian Copyright Law Already Provides Rights Holders with the Legal Tools They Need

As the Industry Committee’s copyright review continues to hear from stakeholders from across the spectrum, a recurring theme has been demands that the government create a new, explicit Internet intermediary injunction that would allow for everything from site blocking to search engine result de-indexing to a ban on payment providers offering services to some sites. For example, earlier this week, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce argued before the Industry Committee:

Read more ›

November 7, 2018 7 comments News
Net Neutrality rally at San Francisco City Hall #BayAreaSpeaks #NetNeutrality #protest by Steve Rhodes https://flic.kr/p/q9ZTkg (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

CRTC Chair Opens the Door to Weakening Canadian Net Neutrality Rules

The Canadian government’s strong pro-net neutrality position has served as its telecom policy foundation with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other government ministers frequently citing Canada’s commitment to the policy. In fact, the current review of broadcast and telecommunications legislation described net neutrality as “a key Government priority given its importance for freedom of expression and the ‘innovation without permission’ ethos that underpins the success of the Internet.”

Yet despite the emphasis on strong net neutrality rules, CRTC Chair Ian Scott used a keynote speech last week to open the door to watering down Canadian net neutrality rules, noting his desire for “flexibility” with the legislation.

Read more ›

November 5, 2018 8 comments News