Post Tagged with: "fair dealing"

30 Days of DRM – Day 22: Libraries (Circumvention Rights)

Early in the series, I discussed the need for DRM-free library deposits as part of the legislated library deposit program that seeks to preserve Canadian heritage. There are additional library issues, however, that merit discussion. Section 30.1 of the Copyright Act grants libraries (as well as archives and museums) special rights to copy works in order to preserve or manage their collections. These are important rights and any anti-circumvention legislation must not be permitted to render them ineffective.

Section 30.1(1) provides that, under certain circumstances:

It is not an infringement of copyright for a library, archive or museum or a person acting under the authority of a library, archive or museum to make, for the maintenance or management of its permanent collection or the permanent collection of another library, archive or museum, a copy of a work or other subject-matter, whether published or unpublished, in its permanent collection

The circumstances that permit such copying include a copy that is:

30 Days of DRM – Day 13: Criticism, Review and News Reporting (Circumvention Rights)

Yesterday's posting covered the research and private study side of fair dealing. The other major component of the fair dealing user right is contained at Sections 29.1 and 29.2 of the Copyright Act, covering criticism, review, and news reporting. Both sections permit fair dealing in a work for those purposes provided that the source is identified. These user rights are equally an integral part of the Copyright Act and should not be unduly constrained.

Indeed, with the emergence of citizen journalism and user generated content, these rights have assumed even greater importance.

30 Days of DRM – Day 12: Research and Private Study (Circumvention Rights)

Section 29 of the Copyright Act contains one of the most important user rights in Canadian copyright law – fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study does not infringe copyright. For many years, this provision was narrowly defined such that the education and library communities adopted relatively conservative approaches to defining what constituted fair dealing. In recent years, however, Canada has experienced a dramatic shift in the vibrance and importance of fair dealing. In a trio of cases, the Supreme Court of Canada strongly affirmed the need for balance in Canadian copyright law. The shift began in the Theberge, where Justice Binnie, in discussing the copyright balance, stated that: