Loading ...Cynthia Cheng
Note: I don’t normally post more than one “Cynthia’s Thoughts” article per week.
Canada’s Industry Minister, Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister, Josee Verner introduced Bill C-61, an updated version of the Copyright Act. The Bill does sound attractive if you look at it: private downloading fines have been reduced from $20,000 to $500. This means that even if you say, downloaded six movies off the Internet, the maximum charge would be $500 (though if you burn a DVD, you’d still be charged the current $20,000). But you have to read the fine print. Many things that we do right now may eventually be limited. For example, broadcasters can flag certain programs, blocking your ability to record them on your PVR (hey, this would mean that you’d have to buy the DVDs at the end of the season! More money for the big network guys who don’t necessarily make the best shows, anyway!) For shows that aren’t blocked, there’s a “limited time” you can watch them.
Another issue is fair dealing (similar to fair use in the United States). This bill would limit it as there is A LOT OF FINE PRINT. For example, the bill allows library material to be distributed in electronic form for five days. After that, it must be destroyed. Also, the Internet exception that many educators does not apply to anything with a notification or is password protected. This means that anything that isn’t Creative Commons will be restricted. Also, Bill C-61 pretty much makes it illegal to access, modify, and/or publicly display content, according to Wide Mouth Mason drummer, Safwan Javed. This means that the bill at its current state does not benefit either the consumer or creators. In fact, it’s limiting one’s freedom of expression, IMHO. And freedom of expression (which includes freedom of press and other media of communication) is something that is guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If this bill is enacted, it’ll surely limit it. This sounds unconstitutional.
I really hope that this doesn’t get passed in its current state and that they consult the public about how they think things need to be changed. Otherwise, we could end up with one of the strictest set of rules in the developed world. And this doesn’t encourage creativity. It makes it worse. We’d all be too worried that we’d be sued for one thing or another.
Fair Copyright in Canada Facebook Group
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