10.0476 copyright threat

WILLARD MCCARTY (willard.mccarty@kcl.ac.uk)
Wed, 27 Nov 1996 22:40:42 +0000 (GMT)

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 10, No. 476.
Center for Electronic Texts in the Humanities (Princeton/Rutgers)
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
Information at http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/

[1] From: Peter Liddell <pgl@uvic.ca> (89)
Subject: Re: Copyright Threat!

The following message went out to the member societies of the Humanities
and Social Science Federation of Canada. It seems that the threat outlined
below is very real - our librarians are taking it VERY seriously, and the
AUCC (Assn. of Universities and Colleges of Canada) has requested all
Presidents of Canadian post-secondary institutions to make their concerns
felt.
I think the issue is serious enough to warrant international exposure, and
a similar invitation to colleagues elsewhere to respond to those listed
below.
Peter

URGENT - URGENT- URGENT

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has finished hearing witnesses
with respect to Bill C-32 on Copyright and will proceed with a clause by
clause examination this week and next week.

The Federal government has repeatedly assured the educational and library
communities that Phase II of te Copyright legislation would include at
minimum a number of exemptions for educational and library purposes in order
to provide the necessary balance between the interests of the user and the
creators.

We have just learned that the long awaited exemptions for educational and
library purposes included in the legislation risk being eliminated. If this
happens a reasonable and balanced compromise between the needs of creators
and those of users of copyright material in educational and library settings
will disappear.

The AUCC in a letter dated November 22 to Sheila Copps states that "the
government has come under enormous pressure from some creator groups to make
major [last minute] changes to Bill C-32 which would either limit the
applicability of exceptions to instances where no collective licensing is
available, or substantially circumscribe the exceptions that are currently
in the bill... [Those] changes would be totally at odds with the letter and
the spirit of the commitments made to the [academic community]."

Moreover, the letter also indicates that "the amendment advocated by
various creator groups to limit the applicability of exceptions to instances
where no collective licensing is available would constitute a fundamental
change [...] and would render the exceptions in the bill virtually
meaningless. ... Collective licensing complements statutory exceptions, but
is not a substitute for them. "

We urge you to write immediately to John Manley, Minister of Industry, and
Sheila Copps, Minister of Canadian Heritage, both sponsoring the bill, and
the members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to ask that C-32
not be amended to exclude the educational and library exceptions.

We would appreciate receiving a copy of your correspondence. You can E-mail
it to Therese De Groote at degroote@hssfc.ca or fax it to (613) 238-6114.
We thank you in advance for your quick response to this campaign.

The addresses of the above-mentioned ministers and members of the Canadian
Heritage Committee are the following

Hon. Sheila Copps
Minister of Canadian Heritage
12th fl., 15 Eddy St
Ottawa-Hull K1A 0M5
Canada
Fax (613) 994-5987
coppss@parl.gc.ca

Hon. John Manley
Minister of Industry
CD Howe Building, East Tower
11th fl;, 235 Queen Street
Ottawa-Hull K1A 0C9

Fax (819) 992-0302 e-mail manlej@parl.gc.ca

Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage e-mail

Monique Hamilton, Clerk of the Committee Not available yet

Clifford Lincoln, Lib, Chair of the Comm lincoc@parl.gc.ca
Gaston Leroux, BQ, Vice-Chair leroug@parl.gc.ca
Beth Phinney, Lib, Vice-Chair phinnb@parl.gc.ca
Jim Abbott, Reform abbotj@parl.gc.ca
Guy H. Arsenault, Lib arseng@parl.gc.ca
Mauril Belanger, Lib belanm@parl.gc.ca
Pierre de Savoye, BQ savoyp@parl.gc.ca
Hugh Hanrahan, Reform hanrah@parl.gc.ca
Raymond Lavigne, Lib lavigr@parl.gc.ca
Pat O'Brien, Lib obriep@parl.gc.ca
Janko Peric, Lib pericj@parl.gc.ca

tel. FAX (613)
Monique Hamilton, Clerk of the Committee 996-0506 943-0307

Clifford Lincoln, Lib, Chair 995-8281 995-0528
Gaston Leroux, BQ, Vice-Chair 992-4473 995-2026
Beth Phinney, Lib, Vice-Chair 995-9389 992-7802
Jim Abbott, Reform 995-7246 996-9923
Guy H. Arsenault, Lib 995-0581 996-9736
Mauril Belanger, Lib 992-4766 992-6448
Pierre de Savoye, BQ 992-2798 995-1637
Hugh Hanrahan, Reform 995-7325 995-5342
Raymond Lavigne, Lib 995-6403 995-6404
Pat O'Brien, Lib 995-2901 943-8717
Janko Peric, Lib 996-1307 996-8340

Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada
151 Slater Street, Suite 415, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H3
Tel: (613) 238-6112; Fax: (613) 238-6114
Email: fedcan@hssfc.ca