CRIA has issued a press release hailing a Toronto police raid that resulted in criminal charges for counterfeiting of movies, music, video games, electronic equipment, and clothing. The arrests come following six months of investigation. Stopping counterfeiting is a good thing and this is how the system should work. Indeed, […]
Canadian Heritage Memorandum, December 8, 2020, ATIP A-2020-00498
Bill C-10
Putting Canadian “Piracy” in Perspective – The Sources
Several people have written in response to the release of Putting Canadian "Piracy" in Perspective to ask for the data to support the claims made in the short film. I admittedly should have provided that from the start, but, better late than never, here are links to the various source documents:
The film opens by referring to movie piracy legislation and two government committee reports (INDU and SECU). It then follows with quotes from Graham Henderson of CRIA, U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, and the U.S. Trade Representative. The film lists a series of copyright reform demands, drawn from the CACN and other copyright groups calling for copyright reform.
The response begins by noting that Canada currently meets its international copyright obligations. The lengthy list of other countries facing U.S. criticism on intellectual property is taken from the 2007 USTR Special 301 Report, while the claim on compliance with WIPO ratification, term extension, and anti-camcording law was based on research published this spring.
Putting Canadian “Piracy” in Perspective
Over the past year, Canadians have faced a barrage of claims painting Canada as a "piracy haven." This video – the second in my collaboration with Daniel Albahary – moves beyond the headlines to demonstrate how the claims do not tell the whole story. Update: Source documents for the film […]
Industry Committee Demands a Canadian DMCA
Just as parliamentarians voted to break for the summer, the Industry Committee (member list here) issued its report on counterfeiting and piracy, unambiguously titled Counterfeiting and Piracy are Theft. The report and its recommendations are stunning as they represent the most lopsided copyright related report since Sam Bulte chaired the […]
Public Safety and National Security Committee Releases Counterfeiting Report
The Public Safety and National Security Committee has released its report on counterfeiting (I appeared before the committee in the spring). The report makes 14 recommendations, most of which unsurprisingly track the recommendations from the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network. These include criminal remedies in the Trademarks Act, inclusion of copyright within […]
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