Post Tagged with: "fair dealing"

Q. Do Digital Locks Trump Educational Fair Dealing? A. Yes

Read more ›

November 26, 2010 36 comments News

Liberals Preparing C-32 Amendments on Digital Locks & Fair Dealing

The Wire Report reports that the Liberals are preparing amendments to Bill C-32 to address digital locks and fair dealing.  The digital lock reforms will apparently address the consumer rights concerns, as Garneau notes in the article that “we believe that if somebody has legitimately bought a work and wants […]

Read more ›

November 26, 2010 12 comments News

C-32 Legislative Committee, Day Two: Clement & Moore Take Centre Stage

The second public meeting of the C-32 legislative committee took place yesterday with Industry Minister Tony Clement and Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore taking centre stage.  The eventful day included a frank admission from government officials that the digital lock provisions trump educational rights.  There is coverage from Postmedia and the CBC.  The key moments from the Moore & Clement discussion:

Read more ›

November 26, 2010 4 comments News

Copyright Fear Mongering Hits a New High: Writers Groups Post Their C-32 Brief

A coalition of English-language writers organizations have publicly posted their response to Bill C-32.  Despite an ideal opportunity for constructive dialogue and a good faith effort to find compromise positions on the more contentious elements of the bill, the groups have chosen to increase the level of fear mongering with a misleading and often inaccurate document that implausibly claims the end of Canadian publishing is near if C-32 is passed in its current form. 

Perhaps most disappointingly, the groups had promised in August to offer “constructive suggestions”, particularly on the issue of fair dealing, which was said to require clear legislative guidance.  Rather than offering proposed language for such guidance, the groups simply want to hit the delete key.  Inclusion of education as a fair dealing category?  Delete.  Non-commercial user-generated content?  Delete.  Digital inter-library loans?  Delete.  Format shifting for private purposes?  Delete. 

At a time when the opposition parties are asking for constructive advice on how to determine the confines of issues such as fair dealing, the writers groups maintain that there is no scope for including education as a category and refuse to offer any suggested language to improve the bill.  Instead, they offer hyperbolic claims about how C-32 violates international copyright law (despite the fact that the U.S. typically offers more flexibility on these issues) or will result in unfettered copying (ignoring the fact that fair dealing includes a test for determining whether the copying is fair).

The full issues and recommendations section from the document (in italics) – along with a much-needed reality check – are posted below:

Read more ›

November 15, 2010 57 comments News

In Search of A Compromise on Copyright

Last week marked the return of the copyright debate to the House of Commons as Bill C-32 entered second reading.  Six months after its introduction, it became immediately apparent that all three opposition parties will be seeking changes to the bill in return for their support. My op-ed in the Hill Times (Hill Times version, homepage version) notes that three issues stand out as the most contentious: digital locks, fair dealing reform, and the extension of the private copying levy.

Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore was quick to criticize opposition concerns, but garnering the requisite votes to pass the legislation will require compromise.  The good news is that there may be a path to finding common ground on each issue.

Read more ›

November 10, 2010 41 comments Columns