Digital locks and ownership

The anti-circumvention, or digital lock, provisions are arguably the most controversial aspect of Bill C-32. Arguments on both sides of the debate dominate the dicussion of the proposed amendments to the Copyright Act. In this article, I suggest a different way of looking at the problem of technological protection measures and an approach to legal protection of digital locks on content that respects user expectations while leaving substantial control to copyright holders.

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Michael Geist presents a lively riposte

“Initially, my plan was to talk about the emergence of a user perspective,” Michael Geist began, as a preface to his lively and well-attended talk at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law on Thursday over lunch. “But, as I followed the events over the past week on the blog, I decided to provide an alternative perspective to what has been discussed.”

Geist then went on to talk about some of the issues that had been covered in the presentations that took place over the previous days of the conference, taking aim at some of the common Canadian copyright misconceptions.

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Technological protection measures and digital rights management

The Wednesday session of the Copyright Modernization Conference, which dealt with Technological Protection Measures (TPMs) and Rights Management Information Systems (RMIs), featured Catherine Lovrics of Bereskin & Parr and James Gannon of McCarthy Tetrault.

As moderator, Richard Owens introduced the session by framing the discussion around what the proposed legislation indicates about policy and future directions pertaining to Technological Protection Measures, before inviting Catherine Lovrics to speak. Read the rest of this entry »

WIPO Director-General on the Future of Copyright

With over two billion internet users worldwide, copyright infringement is taking a massive toll on copyright owners, especially in the music industry.   Fancis Gurry, the Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), addressed this issue today on ABC  Radio National and at a conference last week hosted by Australia’s Faculty of Law.   Read the rest of this entry »

An Industry perspective on copyright reform

“We’re talking about copyright. And what’s the basic premise of copyright? It’s the right to prevent copying,” began Brian Isaac of Smart & Biggar on Tuesday, on the second day of the TIP Group’s conference on copyright reform.

The topic, which dealt with Industry’s influence on copyright reform and Bill C-32, covered a range of issues around the bill and its controversies. Isaac argued that copyright is about balancing the rights of creators, who ideally seek compensation for the work they put into creating intangible property, against the rights of users, who seek access to such property for as low a cost as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

Roanie Levy discusses problems with C-32

The week-long, student organized TIP Group Conference on Copyright Reform kicked off today with a talk by Roanie Levy of Access Copyright on the subject of Online Learning and Related Exceptions to Infringement for Educational and Research Institutions. Read the rest of this entry »

TIP Conference update: events and speakers

The lineup for the TIP Conference next week has been finalized. It looks to be a fascinating series of events, taking place over the consecutive lunch breaks from Monday, February 28th to Thursday, March 4th. The talks will begin at 12:30 and will run until 2:00, at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. With the exception of Dr. Michael Geist’s Thursday talk, which will be in the Bennett Lecture Hall, all the talks will take place in FLC. Lunch will be provided on a first come, first served basis.

Starting off the week, the discussion on Monday will centre around Ownership in Academic Work, featuring Margaret Wilkinson of the University of Western Ontario, an award-winning scholar whose distinguished legal career includes experience both as a practitioner and as an academic. Roanie Levy of Access Copyright will also be on the panel, bringing to the table her extensive experience both as an intellectual property lawyer and as General Counsel and Director of Policy and External Affairs for Access Copyright. Pascale Chapdelaine will moderate the discussion.  Read the rest of this entry »

Publishers and pirates: an editorial

In anticipation of the upcoming TIP group conference on copyright reform, it seems worthwhile to look at some of the complexities and nuances of copyright and the challenges it poses, situated within the context of the larger debate.

What is ostensibly one of the core issues in copyright can be found in what has been popularly depicted as the need for balance, between creators’ rights on the one hand, and users’ rights on the other. But in certain key ways, this kind of framing is misleading. Read the rest of this entry »

Copyright reform roundup

In a little under two weeks from today, the Technology and Intellectual Property group at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law will be hosting a week-long conference on copyright reform. Given that, it seems particularly apropos to review some of our own past coverage on the subject, as well as highlighting some of the important voices in Canadian copyright and copyright reform. Read the rest of this entry »

TIP Conference: Copyright modernization in Canada

The student-run TIP group has released an announcement regarding their upcoming, week-long conference–a must-attend series of events for anyone interested in the challenges surrounding the contentious issue of copyright reform.

2011 Technology and Intellectual Property Conference, February 28th to March 3rd
Each lunch hour from February 28th to March 3rd, a stellar lineup of speakers will debate and discuss copyright modernization in Canada. Topics include ownership in academic work, the lobbying efforts of industry organizations and how technologies like digital locks will further anti-piracy efforts. Thursday’s session will feature a special lecture from Dr. Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. Read the rest of this entry »