Post Tagged with: "copyright"

46/365 Intellectual Property by Traci Lawson (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/63hXJc

Tackling IP Misuse: Canada Takes the Lead in Combating the Dark Side of Intellectual Property Protection

Navdeep Bains, Canada’s Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister, unveiled the government’s long-awaited intellectual property strategy Thursday by responding to the need to increase IP awareness, develop new IP tools for businesses, and counter IP misuse that harms both consumers and businesses. The plan to introduce new legislative rules to discourage misuse of intellectual property is particularly noteworthy since the rules should help foster a more progressive, balanced, and innovative legal framework.

My Globe and Mail op-ed notes that with proposed reforms to all of Canada’s main IP statutes, the government is taking the lead in combating the dark side of intellectual property protection. Since abuse of intellectual property rights may inhibit companies from innovating or discourage Canadians from taking advantage of the digital market, crafting rules that address misuse can be as important as providing effective protection.

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April 27, 2018 — 6 comments — Columns
https://pixabay.com/en/stock-music-computer-musical-play-841436/ CC0 Creative Commons

Canadian Music Industry Seeks New Fees, Content Blocking, and Right to Renegotiate Deals Despite Generating Record Digital Revenues

The global music industry released its annual report this week with data that shows an industry successfully transitioning to digital services. The Canadian market is particularly strong as revenue growth far exceeds global averages. Despite the success, behind the scenes the industry is calling on the government to implement radical copyright reforms that include creating new levies to cover smartphones, requiring Internet providers to block services and report activity back to the industry, and even the power to require renegotiation of commercial deals it no longer thinks are fair.

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April 26, 2018 — 3 comments — News
All Rights Reserved* by Paul Gallo (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/6zMVmm

Quebec Writers Group Calls for an End to Copyright Exceptions: “Only Where Access is Otherwise Impossible”

The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology continues its year-long review of copyright this week with a mix of witnesses from education, libraries, writers, and publishers.  The Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois (UNEQ), which represents Quebec-based writers, appeared yesterday and submitted a brief to the committee with its key recommendations. There are several that will attract attention, including increased damages and an expansion of the private copying levy to cover e-readers, hard drives, and USB keys (a recommendation that may stem from a misunderstanding of the levy which is only for music). However, the most troubling is how the group takes aim at copyright user’s rights.

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April 25, 2018 — 5 comments — News
105-IMG_0002-OTSummitt2017-6x9 by BCcampus_News (CC BY-NC 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/VjyUdx

Digital Trends and Initiatives in Education: The Study the Association of Canadian Publishers Tried To Bury

The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology starts its year-long review of copyright today with the first of several hearings focused on copyright, education and fair dealing. The hearings begin with evidence from education groups to be followed by publishers and other rights holder representatives (sources indicate that Access Copyright declined an invitation but will presumably return at a later date). The Association of Canadian Publishers, the leading national publisher lobby, has been one of the most vocal groups on copyright and will likely appear to tell MPs that fair dealing should be narrowed.

While the ACP has not hesitated to speak out at industry events, it interestingly has said nothing about a study it commissioned on digital trends and initiatives in education in Canada. The ACP study, which received financial support from the Government of Canada and the Ontario Media Development Corporation, is not posted on the publicly available portion of its website. There was no press release when it was released last June and I can find no public reference to it anywhere on the site. Jean Dryden pointed out to me that the study is available through the OMDC.

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April 17, 2018 — 11 comments — News
the television will not be... by aesthetics of crisis (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/dT9oyX

Canada’s Tough Anti-Piracy Copyright Law: Federal Court Awards Millions in Damages Against Unauthorized Streaming Site

When the Bell coalition filed its website blocking application earlier this year, the immediate response from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains was to point to the strength of existing copyright law:

We understand that there are groups, including Bell, calling for additional tools to better fight piracy, particularly in the digital domain. Canada’s copyright system has numerous legal provisions and tools to help copyright owners protect their intellectual property, both online and in the physical realm. We are committed to maintaining one of the best intellectual property and copyright frameworks in the world to support creativity and innovation to the benefit of artists, creators, consumers and all Canadians.

I emphasized the point in my first post making the case against site blocking, arguing that Canada already has many legal provisions designed to assist copyright owners.

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April 16, 2018 — 15 comments — News
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