A busy couple of weeks (including the ever-eventful Banff World Television and nextMEDIA extravaganza) has meant that the Signal has fallen behind in keeping track of the commentary occasioned by the release of Bill C-32 (The Copyright Modernization Act). That being said, here are links to items we thought worth drawing attention to from the last ten days:
- James Gannon provides some thoughts (complete with visual aids) about User Exceptions and Digital Locks
- Mihály Ficsor, writing at Barry Sookman’s blog offers what can be described as a startlingly detailed analysis about the 1996 WIPO Treaties in light of certain comments on Bill C-32
- Michael Geist proposes Proposed Amendments to the Digital Lock Provisions of Bill C-32
- in an exciting battle of the catchy and on-topic taglines, Michael Geist (him again) offers 32 Questions and Answers on Bill C-32, while James Gannon (him again, too) parries with 32 Exceptions in Bill C-32
- Steven Zuccarelli, writing at IPilogue, ruminates on the notion of the bill’s digital lock provisions Acting as the Fulcrum between Owners’ and Users’ Rights
As a reminder, here at the Signal we’re going to do our best over the next few months to keep tabs on developments and commentary, from a variety of perspectives, surrounding Bill C-32, so we invite readers to check back often (clicking the “Bill C-32” tag below will bring you to an index of all posts on the Signal about the topic).
In my article, “Modernization of the Inconceivable”, at http://mincov.com/articles/index.php/fullarticle/modernization_of_the_inconceivable/ (http://bit.ly/8YQZ3r), I explain why modernization of the copyright law based on compromise and concessions, without a good understanding of the underlying principles of copyright protection, is doomed to fail.
Copyright laws exist either for the protection of the creator, or for the benefit of the public. There is no middle ground. As long as we keep entrusting the government (any government) to find the right “balance” between the two, we are destined to keep on making up exclusions from limitations on exceptions from the rights – without even stopping for a second to question why we are doing this.