Copyright and Creativity in International Scholarship:A Canadian Perspective

Professor Michael Geist

Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law

University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law

imagine

no dmca

no copyright term extension

supportive supreme court

starting to realize the potential of the

Internet

USA 1995

Canada 2006

do it right

barriers?

wipo

WIPO Implementation

• Signed in 1997; no push to ratify/implement until 2002

• Bill C-60 introduced in 2005– Links anti-circumvention provisions to actual copyright infringement

• New government in January 2006– Enormous pressure from US lobby (CRIA, software)

– USTR pressure• New voices

– Canadian Music Creators Coalition– Privacy groups

fair dealing

Theberge

“Excessive control by holders of copyrights and other forms of

intellectual property may unduly limit the ability of the public domain to incorporate and embellish creative

innovation in the long-term interests of society as a whole, or create practical

obstacles to proper utilization.”

lsuc v. cch

The exceptions to copyright infringement, perhaps more properly understood as users'

rights, are set out in ss. 29 and 30 of the Act...In general terms, those who deal fairly with a work

for the purpose of research, private study, criticism, review or news reporting, do not

infringe copyright.

Fair Dealing v. Fair Use

• Limits of fair dealing vs. limits of fair use

• Ability to bridge tough issues?–Extended licensing for publicly available materials

–Private copying–Time shifting

• Fair use built on CCH vs. a narrowing of CCH with fair use

crown copyright

Crown Copyright• Historically little appetite to deal with this issue

• Crown owns just about everything - permission culture

• Increasing discussion of a change - particularly around legal texts

• Government receptive to “getting out of the copyright ownership business?”

term extension

Term Extension• LMM Copyright Term Extension Act - failed attempt to extend term

• Government to consult on extension to life+70

• Not a top priority but will be framed as “international standard”

• How to counter?– Economic and cultural arguments– Creation of public domain name database

open access leadership

Open Access Leadership• National Science Advisor speaks of “culture of sharing”

• Open access gets initial embrace from gov’t funded orgs - SSHRC, CIHR, IDRC

• Implementation proving challenging– Lack of buy-in at board level– Lack of pressure from political level– Lack of interest from academic sector– Lack of awareness within general public

Made in Canada solution

mgeist@uottawa.ca