Michael Geist

Latest Posts

The Latest on Access Copyright: Time to Decline the Coverage

Howard Knopf posts an exceptionally important update on the latest developments in the Access Copyright tariff proposal, including the attempt by the copyright collective to exclude 99 of the 101 objectors to its proposal and subsequent demand for an interim tariff to be set by the Copyright Board that would keep the cash flowing even without a formal agreement in place. Knopf points to many legal shortcomings in the Access Copyright position, most notably the serious questions about its repertoire and its ability to actually sue successfully for copyright infringement.

The latest developments further point to growing sentiment on Canadian campuses that it is time for post-secondary education to decline the coverage by walking away from Access Copyright. Since this statement is bound to be mischaracterized as advocating not paying for the rights to use works, let me repeat what I consistently stated this summer. The decision to walk away is not an effort to avoid paying appropriate rights fees. Rather, it is based on the recognition that a collective licence is not the only way for a university to appropriately compensate for use.

November 1, 2010 — 24 comments — News

Challenges to ACTA Mount: The Week in Review

PIJIP has a great post on the mounting challenges to ACTA, including concerns expressed at the WTO and by dozens of law professors.

November 1, 2010 — 2 comments — News

Australia To Hold Three ACTA Briefings, Canada Still MIA

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has announced plans for three information sessions on the ACTA text in Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne. Canadian officials have yet to provide any public briefings.

November 1, 2010 — 3 comments — News

CRTC Approves Usage Based Billing

The CRTC on Thursday gave Bell Canada the approval to implement usage-based billing to wholesale customers. The decision reversed several key conditions it previously imposed on Bell.

November 1, 2010 — 22 comments — News

Against Bill C-32: Creator Groups Stake Out Strong Anti-Copyright Bill Position

Update 11/1: I have received a request to remove the link to the ACTRA document on the grounds that it was posted prematurely. I have been advised that there is not yet consensus among all groups listed in the document on the various C-32 issues.

When Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore told an IP conference last June that only two groups of radical extremists were opposed to Bill C-32, most assumed that he had user groups in mind. Yet as various groups begin to publicly make their positions known, few have been as critical as a creator coalition that includes ACTRA, a writers’ coalition, visual arts coalition, and Quebec artists groups. In a backgrounder on the bill, those groups oppose nearly all the major reform elements of Bill C-32, with the notable exception of digital locks (on which they remain silent).

Just how broad is the opposition? The position paper stakes out the following positions:

October 28, 2010 — 78 comments — News