Canadian Library Association Reaction to New Copyright Bill

The Canadian Library Association has given a passing grade to proposed new copyright legislation, but feels that any progress is undone by government support for digital locks:

"In essence, the bill protects digital locks so they cannot be circumvented for legal uses. The government has, perhaps unwittingly, placed a barrier to the bill’s achievement of its objective to promote innovation and support culture, by prohibiting Canadians from exercising their legitimate, statutory rights to copy material for research, study and education. Fortunately, this can be corrected by simply allowing circumvention for legal purposes (...)"

"CLA is also mindful that in previous rounds of copyright reform, user rights became significantly eroded as the bill went through the committee review process. The library community will be vigilant and engaged in the process to ensure that the gains to Canadian users will not be undermined and derailed as the bill moves through its review."