The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences was invited to testify copyright committe today on Parliament Hill. Jay Rahn, the Chair of the Federation's Taskforce on Copyright provided insight into how the bill could effect Canadian researchers and scholars. In summary, the Federation is suggesting two main shifts in the bill:
- The phrase "such as" or "including, but not limited to" should be added in the list of fair dealing excpetions to make it suggestive rather ahn exhaustive
- The language concerning technological protection measures (TPMs) should be amended so it is not an offence to circumvent a TPM for actions that are otherwise non-infringing
The Federation is supportive of copyright reform and is working hard to ensure that the final form of bill C-32 reflects the reality of research, teaching and learning in the digital age. You can find a copy of Jay's testimony to the committee online here.