Post Tagged with: "Crown Copyright"

Digital Info Strategy Requires Courage Before Cash

My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) examines efforts in Canada to develop a national digital information strategy in light of a national summit on the issue held last week in Montebello, Quebec.  The column notes that the good news is that many provincial governments and organizations are not waiting for Ottawa to act, citing initiatives by the Alberta and Quebec governments, Alouette Canada, Synergies, the McCord Museum, and the blossoming of user generated content.

This enormous energy suggests that digitization will flourish regardless of whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, and Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda adopt a formal strategy.  However, despite the good news, the summit also left little doubt that there are immediate steps that can be taken to pave the way for even more.

In fact, I argue that the federal government would do well to resist introducing expensive new initiatives by first maximizing the benefits that can be extracted from the current set of policies and programs.

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December 11, 2006 1 comment Columns

30 Days of DRM – Day 27: Government Works (DRM Policy)

Government use of DRM represents a particularly difficult issue.  Some argue that government should never use DRM systems (thereby eliminating the need for a circumvention right), maintaining that it runs counter other government priorities such as openness and accountability.  Even governments themselves have acknowledged the problems associated with DRM.  Last week, New Zealand issued guidelines on government use of DRM and trusted computing systems featuring a lengthy list of precautions and safeguards.  They included requirements of minimal restrictions on content, assurances of future accessibility, full respect for privacy rights, retention of government control over a DRM-free version, and full access for all parties entitled to obtain the public information.

The Canadian government response to the DRM must address several issues. 

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September 14, 2006 1 comment News

Copyright Law and the Law

This week Slaw is hosting a theme week on copyright and asked me to kick things off with a guest post.  I've cross-posted below but head on over to the site and join in the discussion.

While the timing of a new Canadian copyright reform bill remains a mystery, there is little doubt that lawyers will play an important role whenever the successor to Bill C-60 is unveiled.  Whether as advocates, lobbyists, counsel, or independent experts, copyright reform invariably unleashes a torrent of conferences, workshops, papers, blog postings, and opinion pieces prominently featuring members of the legal profession. 

Often missing from the process, however, is discussion about the impact of copyright law on the law.  The bar's lack of participation in assessing copyright law's impact on the legal profession is unfortunate, since the legal perspective would add an important dimension to the debate.  Indeed, it is no coincidence that arguably the most important Supreme Court of Canada copyright law in recent memory – CCH Canadian v. Law Society of Upper Canada – struck directly at the intersection between copyright and the law.

If the legal profession were to become engaged in the copyright reform process with itself as the client, what issues might it address?  I'd like to cite four as a starting point and encourage Slawyers to add to the list.  My four include:

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April 24, 2006 Comments are Disabled News

What Might Conservative Copyright Look Like?

With the House of Commons back in session this week, I have an op-ed in this week's Hill Times that focuses on how a Conservative government intent on adopting a market-oriented policy approach might treat copyright reform.  The column notes that there is the potential that history may repeat itself […]

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April 2, 2006 1 comment Columns

Time for Canada To Cancel Crown Copyright

My weekly Law Bytes column (full hypertext version with background links or Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on Canadian crown copyright, which provides that the government retains the copyright associated with any work that is prepared or published by or under its direction, creating an enormous and unconscionable barrier to Canadian film making, political advocacy, and free speech.

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March 14, 2005 Comments are Disabled Columns