One of the reasons I’ve got my knickers in a twist over copyright and fair use — see my two previous posts on Lane Hartwell and her photo (and be sure to read all 100 or so comments) — is that I’ve been thinking a lot about it, in part because I was on a panel on TV Ontario the other day discussing just that issue. On the panel with me were Michael Geist, a professor of law at the University of Ottawa and strong critic of the government’s proposed copyright legislation; Rob Thompson, a correspondent for Billboard magazine; and David Basskin, legal counsel for the Canadian Music Publishers Association.
We talked about how the legislation was (or wasn’t) pulled from the order paper as a result of the work Michael did in setting up a Facebook group — which now has more than 20,000 members — in opposition to a Canadian DMCA, and we also talked about the principles of fair use, which in Canada are covered by an exemption for “fair dealing.” Our exemptions are more restrictive than under U.S. law, which could be why I’m so concerned about the issue. Please read my previous posts for more on this subject. The video of the panel is here, (click the tab that says “Copyright and Intellectual Property”) or you can click the image below.
