News

City Of London Plans City-Wide Wifi

The City of London (England) has announced plans to install city-wide wifi in time for the 2012 Olympics.

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May 19, 2010 2 comments News

Craig on Digital Locks and the Fate of Fair Dealing in Canada

Osgoode Hall's Carys Craig has a must-read article which appears in the Journal of World Intellectual Property, that warns against U.S. style implementation of anti-circumvention legislation.  Craig offers several alternatives if the Canadian government moves forward with anti-circumvention rules, including TPM registration requirements, a clear link to actual infringement, and […]

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May 18, 2010 Comments are Disabled News

Documentary Organization of Canada on Fair Dealing

The Documentary Organization of Canada has released a new guide for filmmakers on the use of fair dealing.  The DOC remains supportive of a flexible fair dealing provision, but as it awaits the copyright bill has created this guide to better inform documentary film makers about how they can use […]

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May 18, 2010 Comments are Disabled News

Globe on Explaining Copyright To Kids

The Globe and Mail featured an article yesterday on how parents explain downloading and copyright issues to their children.

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May 18, 2010 1 comment News

Federal Court of Appeal Rules Song Previews Can Be Fair Dealing

The Federal Court of Appeal today issued an important decision confirming the broad scope of fair dealing in Canada [link not yet available].  At issue was whether "research" within fair dealing could extend to song previews that are made available on sites like iTunes where a consumer can freely listen to roughly 30 seconds of a song.  The Copyright Board of Canada ruled in 2007 that a broad and liberal interpretation of fair dealing meant that it could be included since the preview was effectively consumer research on whether to purchase the song.  SOCAN disagreed and sought judicial review.

The Federal Court of Appeal has affirmed the Copyright Board's interpretation, opening the door to many other consumer research possibilities under the current fair dealing provision.  While SOCAN argued that research should be limited to scientific-type inquiry in a formal setting, the court disagreed, stating:

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May 14, 2010 26 comments News