Library Boy: Canadian Library Association Statement on Proposed Copyright Reform

Earlier this month, the Canadian Library Association (CLA) published its analysis of Bill C-32, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act.

The document, entitled Protecting the Public Interest in the Digital World, has been forwarded to the federal Ministers of Industry and of Canadian Heritage:

"CLA applauds the addition of education, parody and satire in the fair dealing section of the Act. However the Government’s insistence on reintroducing unnecessarily proscriptive protections for digital locks undermines this improvement along with other new and existing user rights to the extent that they are seriously undermined. Legislation which does not include the right to bypass digital locks for non-infringing purposes is fundamentally flawed."

"CLA urges the government to address the copyright implications of the Internet and digital content with a balanced and thoughtful public policy-based approach that upholds and protects Canadian values and culture and user rights as reinforced by the Supreme Court of Canada. Technology and the content provision industries are rapidly evolving and legislative attempts to force existing business models on Canadians by placing constraints on their use of technology are both wrong and ultimately quixotic. The core principles in the WIPO Copyright treaties not already recognized in Canadian law do not require such a maximalist approach and can be incorporated without resorting to the type of barriers on the use of technology found in Bill C-32. "

"The Bill does not go far enough to amend existing library, archive and museum exceptions and limitations made redundant by the fundamental principle of user fair dealing rights as clearly outlined in the unanimous Supreme Court of Canada judgment in CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2004 SCC 13 ...; instead it introduces significant constraints on the ability of individuals and libraries to exercise their rights in the digital environment."

"Canadians will not – and should not – accept digital locks and imposed contracts that interfere with their statutory rights under fair dealing for any format of content, nor limits on how long legally acquired content may be retained by users for research and private study. Bill C-32’s silence on the issue of imposed contracts overriding user legislated rights combined with the overarching protections given digital locks undermine the progressive sections of the legislation."

Earlier Library Boy posts on the topic of copyright reform: