Category: Uncategorized

“Effective Monday, March 16, UVic is transitioning from face-to-face to alternative modes of instruction and evaluation for the remainder of this term.” See announcement made by President Cassels March 13, 2020

Here is some important information for all CourseSpaces users regarding Copyright and online courses at UVic.

If you need any assistance with copyright during this transition, please contact copyright@uvic.ca

Via the ABCcopyright community:

The Copyright Board has published the following:

Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 153, Number 49: Statements of Royalties to Be Collected for the Reprographic Reproduction, in Canada, of Works in Access Copyright’s Repertoire for the Years 2011 to 2014 and for the Years 2015 to 2017 http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2019/2019-12-07/html/sup-eng.html

Contrast with some of the proposed tariff wording https://cb-cda.gc.ca/tariffs-tarifs/proposed-proposes/2013/Supplement_18_may_2013.pdf

What’s changed, aside from pricing? (a small hint…reporting)

More commentary to follow as the copyright community digests this.

The European Parliament has approved a controversial new Copyright Directive.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-

room/20190321IPR32110/european-parliament-approves-new-copyright-rules-for-the-internet

Of particular note are articles Article 11 – which would that news aggregators (like Huffpost) should send revenue back to the publishers they are linking to – and Article 13, indicating that platforms (think YouTube) would be held responsible for any copyright-infringing content they are hosting. To what extent they would have any control over companies in other jurisdictions is unclear.

The directive excludes  non-commercial entities, so we are still safe to link to this article from the BBC March 26, 2019.

Defenders of creators rights are pleased with the development, while proponents of net neutrality are very concerned about what this will mean for freedom of access and fair use on the internet.

The #FairDealingWeek Discussion “Keep Copyright Fair” is available for restreaming here: https://youtu.be/F6yu8OrK1xo

The original event – Feb 28th, 2019 – was hosted by McMaster University Library, featuring Paul Jones of CAUT and Dr. Carys Craig of Osgoode Hall Law School

via @jzerkee on twitter

From Simon Fraser University Library (CC-BY-NC)

Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week is an annual celebration of the doctrines of fair use and fair dealing — a perfect opportunity to reflect on what is quickly becoming a pivotal period in the history of copyright in Canada. York University has appealed the decision in its case with Access Copyright, the statutory review of the Copyright Act is still underway, and the USMCA free trade agreement promises to extend the term of copyright protection by twenty years. In this climate, building increased awareness about user rights such as fair dealing is more important than ever before.

This Fair Dealing Week, SFU, UBC, Langara, KPU, Douglas, VCC and JIBC invite you to an afternoon of presentations and discussion aimed at demonstrating the value of fair dealing in a modern Canadian context and highlighting the perspectives of diverse copyright stakeholders.

Balancing the scales: The role of fair dealing in Canada

Tuesday, February 26, 1:00 – 4:15pm at SFU Harbour Centre

This event will also be webcast at this link and recorded for those unable to attend in person.

This event will feature a panel, moderated by Michal Jaworski, former legal counsel to UBC and partner at Clark Wilson LLP, with panelists:

Devon Cooke, documentary filmmaker;

Peter Musser, YouTube creator;

Andrea Stuart, Canadian Association of University Teachers; and

Linda Valecourt, Douglas College Bookstore.

The panel discussion will be followed by a keynote presentation by Dr. Meera Nair, Copyright Officer at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, reflecting on the 15th anniversary of the 2004 Supreme Court of Canada CCH decision, a significant case addressing fair dealing.

The Parliamentary Committee on Canadian Heritage has begun a review of “Remuneration Models for Artists and Creative Industries“., in the context of the Copyright Act.

This is occurring in tandem with this year’s review of the Copyright Act by the Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.

To date, members of the Canadian music industry and community have been making submissions to the Heritage committee. The media coverage has been wide for singer/musician Bryan Adams’ presentation to the committee on September 18th.

Watch recorded session on ParlVu

Adams’ attention was focused on S.14(1) of the Act:

“Limitation where author is first owner of copyright

14 (1) Where the author of a work is the first owner of the copyright therein, no assignment of the copyright and no grant of any interest therein, made by him, otherwise than by will, after June 4, 1921, is operative to vest in the assignee or grantee any rights with respect to the copyright in the work beyond the expiration of twenty-five years from the death of the author, and the reversionary interest in the copyright expectant on the termination of that period shall, on the death of the author, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, devolve on his legal representatives as part of the estate of the author, and any agreement entered into by the author as to the disposition of such reversionary interest is void.”

Adams proposed that wording be changed to have copyright more likely revert to the creator within the creator’s lifetime, rather than after death. Up until now, much of review related to the term of copyright discussed when a work enters the public domain. Bryan Adams’ testimony approaches the examination of copyright term in how it affects and addresses publishing contracts and the remuneration of creators over a lifetime.

See CBC coverage Tuesday, September 18, 2018

See Michael Geist’s Blog on the topic, September 20, 2018.