Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic
New Copyright Bill: Consumers Come Last
Industry Minister Jim Prentice today introduced into the House of Commons an Act to Amend the Copyright Act that imported the worst aspects of the American DMCA while leaving consumers digitally locked on the outside looking in. Highlights: good ISP liability regime, long overdue time and format-shifting exceptions. Lowlights: those consumer exceptions - indeed, almost all user rights under copyright law, including fair dealing - are trumped by digital locks. We now know the Conservative vision of copyright, and it's bleak: digital distributors are king, and Canadian consumers come last.
