New Canadian Copyright Pledge
p2pnet news | Politics:- As Members of Parliament prepare to return to Ottawa, some have responded to the thousands of letters sent last month out of concern for a Canadian DMCA.
While the responses vary by party (many are posted on the Facebook group), all generally note their concern with copyright balance and a commitment to comment further once a bill is introduced. I can certainly understand why an MP might be reluctant to commit to much more, yet there are core fair copyright principles that do not depend upon the introduction of a bill.
I want to outline a new copyright pledge (I posted an earlier pledge involving campaign funding and the copyright lobby during the 2006 national election).
I believe this pledge could and should be adopted by all MPs – regardless of party – without waiting for an actual bill.
The pledge is simple:
I will not introduce, support, or endorse any copyright bill that, either directly or indirectly, undermines or weakens the Copyright Act’s fair dealing provision.
Fair dealing, which the Supreme Court of Canada has described as a user right, covers uses such as research, private study, news reporting, and criticism. I have argued that the provision should be expanded. For the purposes of the pledge, I am only asking MPs to do no harm.
Fair dealing is a critically important part of the copyright balance that plays a crucial role for education and free speech and it is widely accepted internationally (indeed the parallel provision in the U.S. is far broader).
No Canadian MP or party should support or introduce legislation that would weaken it.
If you are looking to send a follow-up to Industry Minister Jim Prentice or to your local MP, then consider asking them one straight forward question – will they take the copyright pledge?
Michael Geist
[Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He can be reached by email at mgeist[at]uottawa.ca and is on-line at www.michaelgeist.ca.]
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January 16th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Fair dealing is a must but I think the copyright bill should also include a portion to protect the actual artists as well.
Neither the CRIAA or the labels should not be able to speak for an artist that doesn’t want them too.
And any copyright infringment cases should be backed by the artist or artists before it can go to court.
January 16th, 2008 at 10:45 am
“Neither the CRIAA or the labels should not be able to speak for an artist that doesn’t want them too.”
Signing with label = selling your soul to the devil.
Sure the advance seems attractive at first, but eventually the label will come to collect.