Politics - Federal

Michael Geist Video on Copyright Law Reform

By Ryan McGreal
Published August 21, 2009

Yesterday, Adrian Duyzer wrote an article on RTH explaining the Canadian government's public consultation on copyright law reform and the importance of making sure we balance artists' rights with public rights.

Canadian law professor and copyright expert Michael Geist has just produced a video encouraging Canadians to participate in the public consultation:

Among the many speakers quoted is David Young of Red Hat, who points out:

Our legislators absolutely do have to understand the need to protect the public domain of knowledge, because that's where innovation comes from.

The American Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) goes much to far in providing legal mechanisms to prevent copying, fair use and derivation of copyrighted works - to the extent of making it illegal to circumvent technical barriers to copying and even to explain how to circumvent such barriers.

This is consistent with the 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty, which has been criticized for infringing on the rights of consumers and actually hurting the industries it is supposed to protect.

Ryan McGreal, the editor of Raise the Hammer, lives in Hamilton with his family and works as a programmer, writer and consultant. Ryan volunteers with Hamilton Light Rail, a citizen group dedicated to bringing light rail transit to Hamilton. Ryan wrote a city affairs column in Hamilton Magazine, and several of his articles have been published in the Hamilton Spectator. His articles have also been published in The Walrus, HuffPost and Behind the Numbers. He maintains a personal website, has been known to share passing thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, and posts the occasional cat photo on Instagram.

0 Comments

View Comments: Nested | Flat

Post a Comment

You must be logged in to comment.

Events Calendar

There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?

Recent Articles

Article Archives

Blog Archives

Site Tools

Feeds