Nunn, Sandra

"As an instrument of public policy, the Copyright Act has two primary objectives: to encourage the creation and dissemination of original works, and to promote access to knowledge for the benefit of Canadian society as a whole." — Canadian Library Association, September, 2008

1) How do Canada's copyright laws affect you? How should existing laws be modernized?

•  As a retired public library assistant, I believe in the statutory right of all Canadians under fair dealing to freely access information and culture, including those Canadians with perceptual disabilities, regardless of format.
•  As a former public safety advocate, I understand the need for all Canadians to have easy access to and unfettered use of government documents and data.
•  As an individual consumer of music and videos I have experienced the frustration of having digital locks block the use of purchased media on my personal computer and consider DRM an invasion of my privacy and an infringement of my legal rights of ownership.

2) Based on Canadian values and interests, how should copyright changes be made in order to withstand the test of time?

•  Any changes to copyright legislation should be broad, flexible, principle based and technologically neutral to withstand the test of time.
•  Changes need to be balanced and should not overly protect the economic interests of the private sector.
•  The understanding of Canadians' fundamental rights under fair dealing should reflect the unanimous 2004 Supreme Court of Canada judgement (CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2004 SCC 13) which gave a broad interpretation of fair dealing and defined it as a fundamental user right.
•  Any changes must uphold Canadian values of free access to knowledge and culture and must encourage the preservation and dissemination to all Canadians of that culture.
•  Barriers should be eliminated that impede equitable access to knowledge and culture in all media formats for those with perceptual disabilities as equal access is guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and federal and provincial Human Rights legislation.

3, 4 & 5) What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster innovation and creativity, competition and investment and best position Canada as a leader in the global, digital economy?

•  Government documents and data belong to all Canadians and Crown Copyrighted materials should be released to the public domain for the use of all Canadians.
•  Our educational institutions should be free to copy and distribute materials for educational purposes under more flexible fair dealing provisions.
•  Individuals and institutions should be protected from digital locks and imposed contracts that interfere with and supersede statutory rights of fair dealing and serve to discourage competition.
•  The circumvention of digital locks for legitimate purposes must not be prohibited. Any anti-circumvention legislation should be limited to cases of copyright infringement.
•  Statutory damage penalties for copyright infringement should not include copying for private non-commercial use. Penalties should be limited to infringement for illegal profit.
•  Copyright terms should be limited to those stipulated by the Berne Convention — life plus 50 years.

Sandra Nunn
Kakabeka Falls,
Ontario