I last posted an update on the copyright consultation discussion forum on August 4, 2009. Discussion has slowed since, but the total number of comments for the first question on how copyright affects you is closing in on 1,000 responses. Frances Munn provides a summary.
Post Tagged with: "copycon"
Tracking the Copyright Consultation Discussion Forum – Through August 17, 2009
How Canada’s New Copyright Law Will Affect You
Geof Glass of Vancouver Fair Copyright with an op-ed in the Georgia Straight on Canadian copyright reform.
Designing A Copyright Law That’s Built To Last
As the national copyright consultation launched earlier this summer hits the midway point, the first four weeks have attracted considerable interest. There have already been more than a thousand submissions, one town hall meeting, and five roundtable discussions, with many Canadians visiting copyrightconsultation.ca to provide their views on copyright reform.
Changes such as expanded fair dealing, legal protection for digital locks, and new digital levies have emerged as the most-discussed issues. However, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) grapples with one of Industry Minister Tony Clement's core concerns: In an era of rapidly changing technology, how does the government ensure that a new copyright bill is built to last?
Clement's focus on longevity appears to be a tacit acknowledgement that Bill C-61, the last Conservative copyright bill that died with the federal election call last fall, was not sufficiently forward looking. With specific references to VHS tapes, emphasis on digital rights management, and blocks on the use of network-based personal video recorders, critics argued that bill was past its best before date the moment it was introduced. Designing copyright reforms that are not rendered outdated soon after introduction requires identifying the right principles to use as a metric against which new provisions can be measured. At least four come to mind.
Odd Letter-to-the-Editor of the Day
Conservative Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb. The good: encourages constituents to participate in the copyright consultation. The bad: sticks to the C-61 talking points as doesn't seem to realize that the bill was introduced in June 2008, not 2009 (and died on the order paper last September).
CFHSS Issues Call for Copyright Action
The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS) has issued a Call for Action on the current copyright consultation. The CFHSS, which made up of 69 scholarly associations, 75 universities and colleges and 7 affiliates, as well as more than 50,000 scholars, students and practitioners across Canada, focuses […]