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A ROYAL COMMISSION ON COPYRIGHT?

By Howard Knopf

I thank John Degen for pointing out that Christopher Moore of the Creators Rights Coalition has come out in favour of public inquiry, indeed a royal commission on copyright:

Let?s have a public inquiry. Hell, let?s have a Royal Commission. Get someone not insane, and see what they come up with as a set of principles that a government might feel empowered to endorse.

I not only agree but can?t resist saying ?I told you so.....? Indeed, many times. See here and here for example.

We have certain problems that need to be dealt with right away. But a judicially led commission is the way to go for the balance of the problems.

Such a commission could do a great job of inquiring into the Canadian copyright system, if given an adequate budget, staff and terms of reference to get the job done and to issue a fully reasoned and documented report in the tradition of Justices Parker, Ilsley, and the Economic Council. England also has this tradition, as Bill Patry recently pointed out , not to mention Judge Whitford's report.

Such a commission could solve a major problem for the Government by taking care of an apparently intractable structural problem that has eluded successive governments and ministers for years, which is how to handle the copyright file within the departmental framework. Such a commission could have credibility with all stakeholders, if done right.

Such commission should be led by a judge who knows a lot about intellectual property law and whose expertise, experience and, above all, independence are beyond question.

So, I agree with Christopher Moore on this

HK

Full post as published by Excess Copyright on December 19, 2007 (boomark / email).