The Copyright Board of Canada issued the long-awaited commercial radio decision on Friday. Commentary from Howard Knopf, FYI Music, and the Wire Report. FYI Music also offers a glossary of the various players.
Fair Dealing by Giulia Forsythe (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/dRkXwP
Copyright
Brazil’s Approach on Anti-Circumvention: Penalties For Hindering Fair Dealing
“The proper balance among these and other public policy objectives lies not only in recognizing the creator’s rights but in giving due weight to their limited nature. In crassly economic terms it would be as inefficient to overcompensate artists and authors for the right of reproduction as it would be self-defeating to undercompensate them.”
Brazil recently unveiled its much anticipated copyright reform proposal and it provides a statutory example of applying this principle. Article 107 includes an interesting balance to legal protection for digital locks.
Greens/EFA Call for ACTA Transparency
The Greens/EFA group of Members of the European Parliament have issued an urgent appeal to retain transparency in the ACTA negotiations. The MEPs protest the decision to backtrack from releasing draft texts following last week’s meeting in Switzerland.
The ACTA Timeline: An Update
Last December, I posted a timeline of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, with links to developments tracing back to 2004. With the ninth round of talks now concluded, I’ve updated the timeline with new links, documents, and videos from the past six months. The ACTA Timeline on Dipity.
Angus Calls Out Moore on WIPO: Says Fails to Understand Treaty, Makes Mockery of Copyright Balance
NDP MP Charlie Angus has issued a lengthy letter to Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore and Industry Minister Tony Clement that challenges them on the digital lock provisions in Bill C-32. In a release on the letter, Angus states "the digital lock provisions will subject Canadians to arbitrary limitations on their legal rights of access. The government is trying to create the impression that this unbalanced approach to digital locks is necessary in order to bring Canada into compliance with WIPO and the Berne Convention. Nothing could be further from the truth." He adds:
"The government is establishing a two-tiered set of rights. Bill C-32 offers rights that consumers will be restricted from exercising. These provisions make a mockery of the claim that the bill is balanced and pro-consumer. Either the government has a faulty understanding of international treaty obligations or is looking to use these existing treaties as a cover to pursue a specific political agenda. The New Democratic Party will challenge any provisions that would lead to unbalanced and arbitrary copyright legislation."
The letter delves into much greater detail on the digital lock issue, discussing how there is flexibility at international law with Angus emphatically stating "I believe the government will be unable to produce evidence that these onerous digital lock provisions are the result of existing treaty obligations." As result, Angus makes a formal request that the government seek an opinion from WIPO on the issue of exceptions to digital locks.
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