ARCHIVED — Christopher Whitt
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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 Christopher Whitt received on September 14, 2001 via e-mail
Subject: Comments - Government of Canada Copyright Reform
To Industry Canada, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Intellectual Property Policy Directorate and other concerned agencies:
I am concerned about potential alterations to the Copyright Act to address the issues raised by digital communications. In particular, I believe that legal protection of technological measures to prevent copyright circumvention is a very dangerous consideration.
I am pleased to read in the Consultation Paper on Digital Copyright Issues (CPCDI) that the departments recognize that "devices which are suited to infringing uses are, by and large, equally suited to non-infringing uses". I feel that it will be difficult or impossible to legislatively prevent the circumvention of techological protections while preserving the current balance of copyright protections and allowed legitimate uses.
I believe that there is no justification to abridge the current legitimate uses of copyrighted works. I am a musician, and creator of original copyrighted works myself (insignificant as they are). If anything, current copyright provisions are too favorable to large copyright 'stakeholders' - often large foreign or multinational corporations.
I agree that "Technological devices can be used for both copyrighted and non-copyrighted material". I would add that technological devices cannot be guaranteed to distinguish between infringing and non-infringing uses. It is clear to me that the circumvention of technological protections must not be prohibited. The ability to circumvent technological protections is essential to continue to allow citizens to make full, fair and legal use of both copyrighted and non-copyrighted material.
Sincerely,
Christopher Whitt
(Address removed)
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