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Prentice Commits to Private Copying Consultation

By Michael Geist

Lost amidst the huge backlash against the Canadian DMCA was a very brief comment from Industry Minister Jim Prentice during his press conference on Thursday.  Although I did not see it discussed in the media, Prentice committed the government to a public consultation on the future of the private copying levy in the fall.  A consultation on the levy is a good thing - the levy system is clearly broken and Bill C-61's format shifting provisions provide an unmistakable signal that the government isn't crazy about it either.  Yet the right approach would have been to consult on copyright more broadly before tabling a bill.  With a bill before the Industry Committee in the fall, the consultation will get completely lost in the process.  Moreover, why a consultation on private copying but nothing on more flexible fair use or crown copyright or the multitude of other important concerns that this bill fails to address.

Full post as published by Michael Geist on June 17, 2008 (boomark / email).