Post Tagged with: "c-32"

“Legislative Guidance” on Fair Dealing: The Plan to Reverse CCH?

My post this week on several writers groups objections to Bill C-32 has generated considerable discussion, with some taking me to task for focusing on their letter’s warning of “unintended consequences,””years of costly litigation,” and “serious damage to the cultural sector.” Instead, they argue that I should have focused on the call for additional “legislative guidance” on the fair dealing reforms. After all, who could be against greater clarity in the law?

In the discussion that has followed, I believe that it has become increasingly clear that the “legislative guidance” is not really about the fair dealing reforms found in C-32, but rather fair dealing more generally. Unfortunately, the writers’ letter only speaks of their concerns and does not provide any specific policy or legislative reform recommendations that would clarify their intentions. However, with the government having opened up the fair dealing provision, those groups may see an opportunity to reverse the Supreme Court of Canada’s CCH decision that characterized fair dealing as a user right and established guidelines for its interpretation.

Why do I arrive at this conclusion?

August 27, 2010 — 141 comments — News

Writers Groups Attack Fair Dealing Reform in Copyright Bill

Several writers groups have written to Industry Minister Tony Clement and Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore to criticize elements of Bill C-32. The letter focuses on the fair dealing exception for education:

From our perspective the biggest weakness in the bill is the addition of the word â€˜education’ to the purposes of â€œfair dealingâ€ without clear legislative guidance on how this amended provision of the Copyright Act will work in conjunction with other, more specific exceptions for education. We think that this new fair dealing provision will result in serious damage to the cultural sector and to Canada’s embryonic knowledge economy and, together with other new exceptions, negatively affect Canada’s professional writers.

The letter adds “we see that without further clarification of some provisions there will be unintended consequences and years of costly litigation.”

It is important to emphasize again that this is fear mongering that is simply inaccurate.

August 24, 2010 — 68 comments — News

Canadian Library Association on C-32: Digital Lock Rules “Fundamentally Flawed”

The Canadian Library Association has released detailed comments on Bill C-32. At the risk of being labeled “radical extremists” by Canadian Heritage James Moore, the CLA adopts positions that are very similar to those found on this blog and by those arguing for balanced copyright. The bottom line from the […]

August 17, 2010 — 16 comments — News

C-32’s Fair Dealing Fears Greatly Exaggerated – Hill Times Edition

This week’s Hill Times includes my op-ed on the recent Access Copyright win at the Federal Court of Appeal and how the decision demonstrates that fears about fair dealing reform in Bill C-32 are greatly exaggerated. Text of the op-ed below.

The introduction of long-awaited copyright reform legislation has generated considerable discussion among Canadians about whether the latest bill strikes the right balance. While concern over Bill C-32’s digital lock rules has garnered the lion share of attention with expressions of concern from all opposition parties and a wide range of stakeholders, the other major issue in the bill is the extension of fair dealing – Canada’s version of fair use – to cover education, parody, and satire.

August 6, 2010 — 3 comments — Columns