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COPYRIGHT REFORM PROCESS
SUBMISSIONS RECEIVED REGARDING THE CONSULTATION PAPERS
Documents received have been posted in the official language in which they were submitted. All are posted as received by the departments, however all address information has been removed.
Submission from Charles Cazabon received on August 2, 2001 11:15 AM via e-mail
Subject: Copyright reform process comments
Dear sirs,
On the matter of the Copyright Reform Process, I have a few comments to make. The issue is that of techniques, software, or other devices used to circumvent technologies intended to "protect" copyrighted material.
There are several passages in the consultation paper which state that the various departments involved to this point have already concluded that it is necessary to proscribe the creation, distribution, or use of any anti- circumvention technologies. This conclusion is based on faulty premises, and ignores some critical facts about copyrighted material and copyright law.
Specifically:
-so-called "anti-circumvention" technologies (techniques, software, or devices) which may have copyright-infringing uses all have significant non-infringing uses. Banning these technologies completely simply because someone might use them in an illegal manner is shortsighted. Shall we ban the common kitchen knife as well?
-copyright law provides users with "fair use" rights. Digital rights management software and techniques do not, in general, respect any of the fair use provisions -- consumers who have paid for a product which uses digital rights management frequently find that they cannot use the product in the ways to which they have become accustomed, and in ways which are perfectly legal. For example, a digitally-recorded audio recording with rights management restrictions will not allow them to make the allowed backup copy in case of damage to the original media, or will not allow them to transfer the recording to another medium suitable for use in their portable audio player. Material is also unavailable for other "fair use" uses, such as extracts for a review, or use in academic study.
-copyright protection is for a limited time, after which the material may become public domain. The digital rights management techniques currently in use or being developed have no concept of this. Material which is issued today with the various scrambling or encoding "protection" techniques may never become available in this way. For all of these reasons, there will always be legitimate needs to circumvent digital rights management technologies. We, as a society, cannot remove the rights of consumers, academics, and others at the behest of the commercial interests.
Sincerely,
Charles Cazabon
[Address removed]
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