I want to make a quick suggestion for a last-minute Christmas gift, or a gift for yourself later in the week. When I first heard about Canadian Copyright: A Citizen's Guide (FairCopyright.ca, Chapters.ca, Amazon.ca), I thought it would be a law textbook like In the Public Interest: The Future of Canadian Copyright Law. While I have only had a chance to read the introduction, it is clear that this book is aimed at the average Canadian.
Whether you are a parent or educator, youth or student, software or book author, creator or fan, you should check out this book.
The book goes through the rational and history of copyright, then into the law itself, the various practices, and into other policy. The latter section is very timely as it discusses some of the most recent history around copyright revision, referencing the Liberal Bill C-60 and the foreign and domestic special interest pressure to ratify the controversial WIPO Internet treaties.
I will be posting more thoughts on the book as I am able to read more, but wanted to send this message out early.