Track the new Copyright Bill with Copyright For Canadians

The revolt over the government's secretive and unsure approach to tabling new copyright reform has spread across the Canadian Net in a matter of days, and every hour seems to gain even more momentum. To help you keep track of all that's going on, Online Rights Canada has launched a separate mini-site, Copyright For Canadians. We will, of course, be running our petitions, factfiles and action center activities here: but for a quick summary of news and reactions from across all of Canada's concerned groups and citizens, you might want to add Copyright For Canadians to your RSS newsreader or bookmark list.

Countdown to a New Copyright Bill

There are strong indications that, sometime in the next two weeks, Industry Minister Jim Prentice will introduce the Conservative's version of a new copyright bill. The word is that it be terrible step backward for Canadian copyright reform. It will contain a wholesale importing of the United States' dismal DMCA anti-circumvention regulations, with no new exceptions for parody or other "fair use" limitations and exceptions, and no fix for private copying or the levy. It's as though United States and major rightsholder lobbyists wrote a laundry list of wants, and the Conservatives were happy to hand it to them. We await the proposed language with concern, but in the meantime, write to your MP now, and urge them to take Canadian copyright into the 21st Century, not mimic the last decade of intellectual property missteps from the United States.

Money in Politics, Conflicts for Copyright

With the fall of the 38th Parliament, Bill C-60, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act, died on the order table. However, the election has not sidelined the copyright debate – far from it. Copyright policy – and its unfortunate ties to campaign financing – has become a hot election issue. Read on for more info, or click here to take action.

What are Copyright Reform and Bill C-60?

Bill C-60 was the government's last attempt to significantly change Canadian copyright law -- a.k.a. "copyright reform" -- and it would have had broad implications for Canadian society. The government suggested that Canadians needed Bill C-60 to "modernize" Canadian copyright law to reflect the realities of digital technology like the Internet. In truth, the current Copyright Act has served Canadian content industries very well. If anything, Parliament should be addressing copyright's failure to serve the needs and interests of ordinary Canadians. In the end, Bill C-60 would have created a host of new rights for copyright holders and eliminates corresponding rights that Canadian users of copyrighted material enjoy today. Bill C-60 expired when the Liberal government collapsed in 2005, but its principles will return under a different bill number in 2006.

Distance Learning and Interlibrary Loan: Broken Promises

Bill C-60 included several qualified exceptions intended to benefit Canadians by addressing access to educational resources -- namely distance learning and digital interlibrary loan -- via the Internet. These socially valuable endeavours involve acts of copying that could trigger expensive litigation, so "exceptions" are necessary for schools and libraries. Uncertainty about such lawsuits has slowed access to distance learning in rural areas and many First Nations communities. Unfortunately, C-60's attempts to remedy this situation were hamstrung by copy restrictions and administrative burdens. We can do better in 2006.

C-60 & Photography: Who Owns Your Family Photos?

Bill C-60 purports to "harmonize" photographers' rights with those of other authors under the Copyright Act. In reality, Bill C-60 strips Canadians of ownership of their copyright in commissioned photographs and portraits. Canadian copyright law has historically protected consumers by giving them copyright in commissioned photographs, such as wedding photos and baby pictures. Bill C-60 changes those rules, and it's an unnecessary assault on the interests of Canadian consumers.

Canadian Copyright & International Treaties

Bill C-60 had problems, but two areas were actually better for the public than anyone expected. One of these areas (click here for the other) was C-60's handling of Canada's international treaty implementation.

ISP Lisability and Bill C-60

Bill C-60 had problems, but two areas were actually better for the public than anyone expected. One of these areas (click here for the other) concerns liability -- or lack thereof -- for Internet service providers (ISPs). However, even this provision could be improved substantially.

Missed Opportunities: Bill C-60 and User-Rights

Canadian governments exhibit a predictable pattern of behaviour in copyright revision: the government of the day continuously promises attention to user issues in the "next round" of revision, only to ignore those issues in favour of granting more, stronger and longer rights to copyright holders. Bill C-60 continues this pattern.