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Bill C-61

Conservative government tables Bill C-61, "An Act to amend the Copyright Act" on June 12, 2008. Please see Industry Canada: Copyright reform process.

61 Reforms to C-61 - Wrap-Up Post

Michael Geist has created an article that links to all 61 of his articles about needed reforms to the Conservative Bill C-61.

Liberal Hedy Fry includes copyright in election Mail Out

Bruno Godin (constituent in Vancouver Center) posted to the Vancouver Fair Copyright discussion list the text of an election mail out from incumbent Hedy Fry.

C-61: Copyright

Bill C-61, the Conservative government's Copyright Bill was recently tabled in Parliament.  In principle, this bill is necessary: Canada is signatory to World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) treaties, but lags behind other industrialised nations in domestic copyright protection laws.  However, as it stands, C-61 is seriously flawed.  Copyright legislation should balance creators' rights to fair reimbursement for intellectual property and consumer's need to have timely access to creative works.  In the digital age, this brings a new and complex challenge.

Minutes of special meeting on cuts to arts program posted

The minutes and transcript from the special August 26, 2008 to "discuss the recent cancelling of federal cultural financial assistance programs" are online.

This meeting was held when everyone pretty much knew an election would be called. This should be read as an election debate on federal government funding of cultural programs from some key politicians running for re-election. While Copyright wasn't on the agenda, it did get discussed.

"Remember C-61" poster: technology property rights defenders!

Along with this PDF I received the following note:

The author of this literary and artistic work exercises his or her moral right to remain anonymous! ;)

It's a riff off the old Reform Party/anti-gun-control campaign from 1996, "Remember Bill C-68 When You Vote"

The irony is not lost on me. Bill C-68: An Act respecting firearms and other weapons created a registry that was an IT boondoggle, but for a true property-rights protecting conservative should be considered a minor issue compared to Bill C-61.

Canadians fed US-style copyright legislation? I wish!

In an article in p2pnet , Charlie Angus, Digital Spokesperson for the New Democratic Party, said that "Under Stephen Harper, Canadians are being force-fed US-style copyright legislation." When I read this, all I could think is "I wish"!

While I've written about how some aspects of C-61 are lifted near-identical out of the USA's DMCA, I have not yet put them in context with the rest of their copyright act. Bill C-61, like the DMCA, is a set of changes between the previous Copyright and a new Copyright. US copyright law was more fair before their DMCA than Canadian law is now, and if Canada takes the direction articulated in C-61 we will become that much worse than US law. As bad as this would be, I would be happier to have Canada simply adopt current US law (DMCA and all) than to apply Bill C-61 to current Canadian law.

Read the rest of this entry on IT World Canada's blog »

Digital Policy #1: Why Bill C-61 Is a Bad Idea for Canada’s Digital Economy

Randall Howard post a first in an intended series on why C-61 is bad for Canada's Digital Economy.

There is no question that such legislation would put a chill on large segments of the software and digital media industry in Canada, simply because it makes innovation and new business models more difficult to develop.

Bill C-61 Copyright Reform: What Could it Mean for the CE Industry?

Frank Lenk's article on the effects of Bill C-61 on the Consumer Electronics industry includes the following about Liberal MP, Bob Rae:

It’s more difficult to understand why the consumer electronics industry has not been more vocal in presenting the opposing view, given that tomorrow’s ‘digital VCR’ is now under threat. This was borne home forcefully when I recently had the opportunity of visiting my local Liberal MP, Bob Rae (www.bobrae.ca).

Is the Clock Ticking for the Canadian DMCA?

Drew Wilson's article on ZeroPaid make the following important point:

Still, is it the end of the Canadian DMCA? Maybe as we know it today, but the copyright debates are far from over.

Bill C-61 will die on the order paper with the election call just as Bill C-60 did when the last election was called. After the election it will be much faster to see a Copyright bill tabled given the two parties who could reasonably form government already have a bill to table.

Notice bots under DMCA and C-61 & C-61: history and context

Ottawa's Keith Rose is blogging on copyright, specifically tacking issues around automated notices and recent ruling on the need to take Fair Use into consideration for DMCA take-down notices. That is the USA, and he then asks about Canada under C-61.

Canadian Communication Association position on C-61

Sorry for this June 14 letter (local PDF copy) from the Canadian Communication Association only being posted now, but when the bill was first tabled things got a little busy.

The letter makes a very obvious point: "What is remarkable is that while you seem to have adopted wholeheartedly the more draconian aspects of American legislation evident in their DMCA, you have ignored its most democratic element: fair use."

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