Canada to remove "Fair Use" from Copyright law.

[Bob Hubbard]

Canada is rewriting their copyright laws, and eliminating accepted rights such as Fair Use, Parody and more, while putting unprecedented power in the hands of copyright holders like the MPAA and RIAA.

Canadian DMCA Won't Include Consumer Rights

Posted by Zonk on Friday December 07, @06:36PM
from the hard-not-to-respect-a-strong-lobby dept.
An anonymous reader writes "As protests mount over the Canadian DMCA, law professor Michael Geist is now reporting that the government plans to delay addressing fair use and consumer copyright concerns such as the blank media tax for years. While the U.S. copyright lobby gets their DMCA, consumers will get a panel to eventually consider possible changes to the law. Many Canadians are responding today with a mass phone-in to Industry Minister Jim Prentice to protest the policy plans."

Your Rights Online: Canada's New DMCA Considered Worst Copyright Law
Posted by kdawson on Thursday November 29, @10:31AM
from the outdoing-the-southern-neighbours dept.
loconet writes "The government of Canada is preparing to attempt to bring a new DMCA-modeled copyright law in Canada in order to comply with the WIPO treaties the country signed in 1997. (These treaties were also the base of the American DMCA.) The new Canadian law will be even more restrictive in nature than the American version and worse than the last Canadian copyright proposal, the defeated Bill C-60. Among the many restrictive clauses in this new law, as Michael Geist explains, is the total abolishment of the concept of fair use: 'No parody exception. No time shifting exception. No device shifting exception. No expanded backup provision. Nothing.' Geist provides a list of 30 things that can be done to address the issues."

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Canadian copyright reformer: we'll deal with consumer concerns later

By Nate Anderson | Published: December 07, 2007 - 01:16PM CT

Canada has some solid songsmiths—The Weakerthans, Feist, and Barenaked Ladies spring immediately to mind—and all three have joined the Canadian Music Creators Coalition. It's a group that in its short life has already decried CRIA, denounced the Jammie Thomas case in the US, and come out in support of legalizing P2P though a monthly ISP fee.

As the Canadian government prepares to introduce a major new piece of copyright legislation, though, the artists who the bill claims to help aren't interested in gaining additional legal rights against file-swappers.

"When the Canadian Record Industry Association (CRIA) says 'copyright reform' what they really mean is 'give a free hand to sue fans who download like they have in the US,'" said Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page back in October. "We hope the government has a better solution in mind."

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...-reformer-well-deal-with-consumers-later.html

Some additional related stories at arstechnica
* DMCA-style laws coming to Canada, Switzerland
* Canadian copyright reformer: we'll deal with consumer concerns later
* CRIA about-face on iPod levies tied to concerns over legitimizing downloads
* Copyright Board of Canada gives thumbs-up to "iPod tax"

 

[exile]

This sucketh, and royally so. Let's hope a mass Canadian uprising of both fans and progressive performers nips this crap in the bud. Parodists are going to have to pay royalties on what they're parodying? Hell, ain't hardly worth it! Next step: reviewers won't be able to quote lyrics without ponying up...

This is what happens when accountants get in on the act.

 

[jks9199]

So... how long till we have to pay royalties for singing along or having learned the lyrics to a song?

Oh my gawd... what'll it cost you to have a song stuck in your head?!

(And I only wish I was joking... There's gotta be a practical line. It's a major irritant to me that I can't copy the CD I bought onto the computer I use at work... Y'know, in case I wanted to use the CD drive for something other than playing a CD.)

 

[Bob Hubbard]

So... how long till we have to pay royalties for singing along or having learned the lyrics to a song?

Oh my gawd... what'll it cost you to have a song stuck in your head?!

(And I only wish I was joking... There's gotta be a practical line. It's a major irritant to me that I can't copy the CD I bought onto the computer I use at work... Y'know, in case I wanted to use the CD drive for something other than playing a CD.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You

 

[That One Guy]

i'm going to vomit, hang on a second.........

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okay, I think I'm done expressing how I feel about this development in the ongoing battle against the RIAA.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

So, needless to say, neither I nor my 20,000,000 Terabytes of MP3's will be heading northward anytime soon.

 

[arnisador]

Dude, you could wander out your front door for a walk and end up in Canada accidentally!

 

[Bob Hubbard]

True. Very true.

To be honest, this change won't really effect me, unless I cross the border and get his with a huge fine for having an unlicenced Ipod or something. But still, it's scary, especially in light of other Canadian laws which have pretty much legitimized P2P and such (through the imposition of taxes on blank media and mp3 players).

 

[tellner]

In light of this jks's joke isn't even funny"

Car maintenance chain Kwik Fit is currently tied up in a bitter legal battle with the UK Performing Rights Society (PRS). It’s alleged that Kwik Fit’s mechanics allowed their radios to be played within earshot of the public - a truly heinous crime for which the PRS are demanding £200,000 in damages.
According to a report, the PRS are at it again. The staff at a charity also received a visit from a PRS officer who declared that because a staff radio in the kitchen could be overheard by the public in their tea-room, they would need a license. The charity, Dam House, which was originally set up to save a historic building and offer community and health facilities, had to have a fund-raising event to raise the money for the license.
However, having purchased a license, this wasn’t the end of the matter. The PRS then started asking more questions, and when they discovered that kids sing in a carol concert there at Christmas, they declared that the premises were under licensed. Yes, of course - the PRS wanted yet more money.
“We got really worked up when they told us how much we would have to pay this year” said charity trustee, Margaret Hatton. “They asked us what facilities we had and we think they are charging more because they found out we’ve got a function room.”

I'm afraid that that is all I can say without violating MT's terms of service. The usual obscenities are barely adequate. And that is not a joke.

 

[shesulsa]

Oh my gawd... what'll it cost you to have a song stuck in your head?!

Perhaps "1984" should have been titled "2014."

So, needless to say, neither I nor my 20,000,000 Terabytes of MP3's will be heading northward anytime soon.

Dude, you could wander out your front door for a walk and end up in Canada accidentally!

Yeah, I hear the overspray from Niagara is wicked!

Seriously, though. What will this mean? Will songs only be available for purchase on MP3 players in internet form? or one-time download only? Would we even be able to purchase DVDs at all or would they also be for a single play? The death of parodies???? Come ON!

This is getting a little scary, folks.
It seems

 

[jks9199]

In light of this jks's joke isn't even funny"





I'm afraid that that is all I can say without violating MT's terms of service. The usual obscenities are barely adequate. And that is not a joke.

On the topic of public airings...

Who's walked into a store (like Sears, Best Buy, Walmart, etc.) and noticed the TVs that are on? On a Sunday afternoon... you know they're showing the NFL games, right? Other times, sales staff have been known to show DVDs or movies... Or just have other stuff on. Or, how about waiting areas at car dealerships or garages or doctor's offices, etc.?

Isn't that a "public exhibition?" I've been kind of waiting (though, of late, I've noticed that at least some of the stores AREN'T showing current TV, etc., they're showing video aquariums and the like) for someone to really slam the chains over that.

 

[That One Guy]

In light of this jks's joke isn't even funny"





I'm afraid that that is all I can say without violating MT's terms of service. The usual obscenities are barely adequate. And that is not a joke.

this actually happened to a friend of mine who owns a cafe in southeast portland. They were approached by a representative of some music property rights firm and informed that becuase the customers of the cafe could hear the music being played by the employee's, they would have to pay a fee, or stop playing the music. so they went through the entire list of music owned by the reps company and eliminated it all from the playlists.....

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

this actually happened to a friend of mine who owns a cafe in southeast portland. They were approached by a representative of some music property rights firm and informed that becuase the customers of the cafe could hear the music being played by the employee's, they would have to pay a fee, or stop playing the music. so they went through the entire list of music owned by the reps company and eliminated it all from the playlists.....

This happened to a friend of mine who ran a Martial Arts Studio in Michigan!

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Hmm....sounds like at least 1 county's politicians listen.

Politics: Canadian DMCA Bill Withdrawn



Posted by kdawson on Monday December 10, @09:11PM
from the voice-of-the-people dept.
ToriaUru writes to let us know that Michael Geist is reporting that the Canadian Minister of Industry will not be introducing the proposed Canadian Digital Millennium Copyright Act legislation as scheduled. That proposed legislation, discussed here a couple of weeks back, is now reaching Canada's mainstream press. Geist doesn't speculate on why the legislation is being withdrawn, but it could have something to do with the massive popular outcry against the proposal that Geist helped to orchestrate.

• Read More...

 

[Andrew Green]

The word this afternoon is that Industry Minister Jim Prentice will not introduce the Canadian DMCA tomorrow. The thousands of letters and phone calls over the past week have urged the government to adopt balanced copyright reforms that meets everyone's needs and does not unduly harm education, consumer rights, privacy, and free speech.

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2459/1/