Weekly output: right to repair, public domain

The year isn’t even a day old, and yet I have only one day at home before I have to fly somewhere for work. Tuesday’s flight to Las Vegas for CES will mark the 25th time I’ve begun that pilgrimage; this, as they say, is the business I have chosen. 12/29/2022: New York Gov. Signs Right-to-Repair Bill After Last-Minute Amendments, PCMag The early read on Gov. Kathy Hochul signing a bill that had…

Florida Man Could Roll Back Copyright Term to 56 Years Because Disney

Florida Republican’s war on Disney took an unsuspecting turn. Lawmakers are pushing to roll back copyright terms to 56 years. (more…)

Budget 2022’s Tax on Consumers: Chrystia Freeland’s Seven Year Struggle With Copyright Term Extension

The inclusion of copyright term extension in Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s Budget 2022 may have been buried toward the very end of the last annex of the budget on page 274, but the issue has been front and centre for Freeland for many years. Indeed, Freeland has been well aware of the hidden costs arising from term extension since she was first elected in 2015. In…

Canadian Government Blindsides Canadian’s With Copyright Term Extension

The Canadian Liberals appear to have buried a copyright term extension in their budget. It’s going to life plus 70 years. (more…)

The NDP’s Confusion on Copyright Term: Is Term Extension on their Agenda?

Copyright has not received much attention during the election campaign, but a recent survey by SOCAN raises questions about support for copyright term extension. The issue is particularly confusing in the case of the NDP, since it opposes the TPP(which would require term extension and keep works out of the public domain for decades) but it seems to be willing to entertain the prospect of…

Canada Caves on Copyright in TPP: Commits to Longer Term, Urge ISPs to Block Content

The final Trans Pacific Partnership intellectual property chapter leaked this morningconfirming what many had feared. While the Canadian government has focused on issues like dairy and the auto sector, it caved on key copyright issues in the agreement. As a result, works will be locked out of the public domain for decade at a cost to the public of hundreds of millions of dollars. Moreover, the…

Reports Indicate Canada Has Caved on Copyright Term Extension in TPP Talks

Last month, there were several Canadian media reportson how the work of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, had entered the public domain. While this was oddly described as a “copyright quirk”, it was no quirk. The term of copyright in Canada is presently life of the author plus an additional 50 years, a term that meets the international standard set by the Berne Convention. The issue of…

How Canada Shaped the Copyright Rules in the EU Trade Deal

In late December 2009, Wikileaks, the website that publishes secret government information, posted a copy of the draft intellectual property chapter of the Canada – European Trade Agreement (CETA). The CETA deal was still years from completion, but the leaked document revealed that the European Union envisioned using the agreement to mandate a massive overhaul of Canadian law.

The leak generated…