copyright reform Archives

Some thoughts on Bill-C-32: An Act to Modernize Canada’s copyright laws

At long last we have the Government’s proposed copyright amendments: Bill, C-32 the Copyright Modernization Act. The new Bill aims to address gaps in the current Copyright Act created by the Internet and other digital technologies in line with international standards.

This Bill is substantially different from its predecessors Bills C-60 and C-61 and reflects new thinking by the Government on how best to modernize the Act. While the Bill is an advancement over previous attempts at copyright reform, it will require amendments to ensure it accomplishes the goals set out by the Government and does not introduce unintended consequences.…

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Future of Music Coalition Panel: DC Policy Day 2010 – Focus on ACTA

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Copyright and the Great Socialist Degradation

Andrei Mincov, a recent law school graduate from Vancouver (who also holds a PhD in law from Moscow State University), published a blog in which he explores the basis for protecting works under copyright.

Mr Mincov points to a link between society’s views about copyright and its views about how society is organized at the political level. In his view, copyright policy should based upon a recognition of individual rights and the dignity of the individual.

Mr Mincov also makes some observations about the underlying philosophical/political views of those that oppose copyright laws that would enable individuals to determine for themselves how, when and where their intellectual proterty can be disseminated.…

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“A robust copyright regime would permit market forces to operate properly”

Anti-copyright advocates often argue that protecting copyright is about protecting “old business models”. The subtext is that property rights and market forces are “old school”. The “new business models” are giving things away, or letting them be taken for free, and having to compete with your own property to stay in business.

Danielle Parr takes a swipe at this “free culture” creed in her op-ed today in the National Post, Time to tackle video-game piracy. She argues forcefully that digital piracy undermines markets, jobs, and consumer choice and that a robust copyright regime is necessary to enable markets to operate properly.…

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Geist: “STFU until you see the bill”

On Friday Prof. Geist again proclaimed that he is receiving private information about what the new copyright bill is going to look like. Moore’s Response: Stop Talking and Wait For My DMCA. From what he has been writing the bill will contain WIPO compliant provisions related to the protection of technological measures. It will also contain new exceptions for users that will permit time shifting, format shifting, and distance learning.

His private sources appear to be telling him not just what is in the bill, but also the government’s confidential strategy as to how it intends to present the bill to the public.…

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Canada’s new copyright bill: what will it look like?

The media is reporting on what Canada’s new copyright bill will contain. This speculation was instigated by a blog posted yesterday by Prof. Geist in which he claimed to know what is in the bill. PMO Issues The Order: Canadian DMCA Bill Within Six Weeks.

Prof. Geist repeated his claim in press interviews which were published by the CBC, National Post, Globe, and other publications.

Prof. Geist claims that he knows that the new yet to be introduced bill will mimic Bill c-61 and is reported in the National Post also to claim that it is so bad that, among other things, it would actually “do away with the notion of fair dealing” in Canada.…

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Canada again named to USTR’s Priority Watch List for weak IP laws

The USTR just released its 2010 Special 301 Report. Canada has again been placed on the Priority Watch List along with Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, and Venezuela.

In placing Canada on this list, the USTR stated the following:

Canada will remain on the Priority Watch List in 2010. The United States looks forward to the government of Canada’s implementation of its previous commitments, recently reaffirmed in 2010, to improve IPR protection, and is encouraged by the high level of cooperation between the Canadian and United States governments on IPR matters.

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Canada called out for weak copyright laws by IFPI and at the Heritage Committee

Digital piracy remains one of the biggest obstacles for the recording industry. It is an especially significant problem here in Canada. A major contributor is weak copyright protection which limits the development of new business models for music in Canada. These are the conclusions of the IFPI which just published a report setting out a comprehensive picture of the key trends in today’s music business including key trends in Canada. It is also the opinion of representatives of the recording industry who appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage last week.…

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Graduated response: a least cost solution to reducing online copyright infringement

A new article, Three strikes law: a least cost solution to rampant online piracy, published by Charn Wing Wan, argues that graduated response systems can be justified on economic grounds as a way of reducing transaction costs associated with enforcing online copyright infringement.

The abstract of the article states the following:

“Legal context: The prohibitively high cost of civil litigation is inefficient against millions of online infringers; it is virtually impossible to stop online infringement. The establishment and maintenance of a social norm which makes people willing to conform to pro-copyright norms independent of any consideration of legal incentives is indispensable in the fight against online infringers.…

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The Owens analysis of the Canadian copyright consultations: what are the implications?

Earlier this week, Richard Owens, the past chair of the board of directors of the University of Toronto Innovations Foundation, a member of the board and former Executive Director of the Centre for Innovation and Policy at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, and an adjunct professor of copyright and technology law at the University of Toronto, published a critical analysis of last summer’s copyright consultation. In his paper, Noises Heard: Canada’s Recent Online Copyright Consultation Process: Teachings and Cautions, he concluded that the consultation “was systematically abused by a clandestine group of mod-chip distributors, foreign websites administrators and international BitTorrent users”. …

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