Fair Dealing by Giulia Forsythe (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/dRkXwP

Fair Dealing by Giulia Forsythe (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/dRkXwP

Copyright

Bloc MP Seeking Canadian Hearings on ACTA

Bloc MP Carole Lavallée has sent a notion of motion to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage calling for hearings on Canada’s role at the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations.  The motion states: That pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) the Committee on Canadian Heritage invite the Minister of Canadian Heritage and […]

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October 19, 2010 2 comments News

In Praise of Copying

The National Post has an interesting article on the benefits of copying and the concerns associated with Bill C-32.  The article includes a discussion of York University’s Marcus Boon’s book on copying (available for free download) and Ian Kerr’s exceptional article on digital locks in From “Radical Extremism” to “Balanced […]

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October 18, 2010 8 comments News

Why are U.S. Net Services Slow to Migrate North?

Netflix, the popular online movie rental service, launched in Canada last month, providing consumers with the option to download an unlimited number of movies and television shows for a flat monthly fee.  While the Netflix debut was marred by an ill-advised public relations stunt that involved actors masquerading as excited consumers, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that the long delays in migrating the service north once again raised questions over why popular online services rarely view Canada as a priority destination.

Canada’s legal framework makes for a convenient explanation, but the reality is that subtle legal differences are rarely the primary rationale for business and marketing decisions.  Moreover, Canadian privacy, e-commerce, and intellectual property laws are compliant with international standards and recent surveys have found that business executives view Canadian protections as better than those in the United States. As the Canadian government readies its national digital economy strategy, identifying the real reasons behind delayed entry into the Canadian market is a crucial piece of the puzzle.  

At least three explanations come to mind.

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October 15, 2010 36 comments Columns
From “Radical Extremism” to “Balanced Copyright”: Canadian Copyright & the Digital Agenda Now Online

From “Radical Extremism” to “Balanced Copyright”: Canadian Copyright & the Digital Agenda Now Online

I am delighted to report that From “Radical Extremism” to “Balanced Copyright”: Canadian Copyright and the Digital Agenda, the new peer reviewed book from Irwin Law on Bill C-32 and Canadian copyright, is now available online.  The book is available for download from the publisher under a Creative Commons licence.  A print […]

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October 14, 2010 7 comments Books, Chapters, News

Locking Out Lawful Users

Osgoode Hall Law School professor Carys Craig has a great post at the IP Osgoode site on her article in From “Radical Extremism” to “Balanced Copyright”: Canadian Copyright and the Digital Agenda, the copyright book from Irwin Law that officially launches tomorrow. Craig’s article focuses on two key aspects of Bill C-32: the fair dealing reforms and the impact of the digital lock provisions.  On fair dealing, Craig brings much-needed perspective to the fair dealing reform, which has been the target of an ongoing fear mongering campaign that implausibly and inaccurately claims that it will erode Canadian culture.  Rather, Craig notes:

Educational, parodic and other transformative uses have long been recognized as potential fair uses in the United States. Indeed, the need to expressly include these specific exceptions in Canada speaks more to the shortcomings of the Canadian approach to fair dealing (in contrast to US fair use) than it does to the pursuit of a genuine balance between owners and users in the copyright reform process.

Craig reserves her harshest criticism for C-32’s digital lock provisions, which she describes as “unduly expansive,” concluding:

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October 13, 2010 30 comments News