tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20803105.post8753821863935483359..comments2024-02-14T06:39:11.423-05:00Comments on EXCESS COPYRIGHT: Access Copyright's Press Release re: "Canada's Writers and Publishers Disappointed by U of T and Western's Non-Renewal of Licence"Howard Knopfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18321190334597129416noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20803105.post-91554724810147570952013-12-27T18:33:57.168-05:002013-12-27T18:33:57.168-05:00Howard is The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency,...Howard is The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, a statutory authority? The Australian (rough) equivalent The Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) is a statutory authority and therefore is subject to questioning by Parliamentary estimates and other related committees, is the situation in Canada the same? john r walkerhttp://johnrwalker.com.au/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20803105.post-20449508316427155932013-12-12T00:25:23.516-05:002013-12-12T00:25:23.516-05:00Thank you! I was wrong about that. I attempted to ...Thank you! I was wrong about that. I attempted to clarify that point to myself before posting but must have taken a wrong turn and should have followed my remaining doubts further. The name (The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency) doesn't help things, which I suppose was part of my point. Perhaps the federal and provincial governments have fallen victim to the same point of confusion.<br /><br />Anyways, thanks for the correction and the reporting!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20803105.post-40769543182942664972013-12-11T23:13:03.900-05:002013-12-11T23:13:03.900-05:00Whatever can be said about AC, and much can be sai...Whatever can be said about AC, and much can be said, it is not a "crown corporation". That is a very technical term and doesn't apply here.<br /><br />Nonetheless, the Federal and some Provincial crowns have been, arguably, unnecessarily deferential and even generous to AC over the years.<br /><br />HPKHoward Knopfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18321190334597129416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20803105.post-82706341372804869752013-12-11T19:11:03.845-05:002013-12-11T19:11:03.845-05:00Access Copyright (aka The Canadian Copyright Licen...Access Copyright (aka The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency) portrays itself here as a non-profit championing for the little guy. They are in fact a crown corporation that represents primarily publishers, and that places them in a conflict of interest when they argue in promotion of ever-stricter copyright licensing. They are effectively a government-sponsored cartel representing vestigial publishing interests; the government is necessarily and inappropriately sympathetic to their cause when Canadians would rather leave the monopolists they represent safely in the 20th century.<br /><br />Access Copyright says they are promoting clarity, but only if it falls in their favor. When it does not, they promote fear, uncertainty, and doubt in order to compel the outcome ("clarity") they desire. ("For faculty who are accustomed to operating under Access Copyright licenses, the termination will be accompanied by disruption and uncertainty." In other words, leaving undermines their relevance and their preferred form of clarity.)<br /> <br />Their very logo contains the copyright symbol, as though they are have dominion over it, and - as a crown corporation - that could be considered confusing. This confusion has helped them to parle their poorly demonstrated title to far-from-exhaustive repertoire into an authority role. That trust is fading even as they are doubling-down to preserve.<br /><br />They are antagonistic towards the very value proposition of digital information and the Internet. They seem to want nothing less than a system of pervasive surveillance-based enforcement and micropayments (perhaps not so micro - they want linking to be the same as copying: full price); and the government seems sympathetic to that, since advancing strict copyright advances surveillance powers generally. If they weren't so sympatico, Access Copyright's license would have been revoked already. Instead, with the government's support, they are helping to turn the Information Super-highway into a highly-monitored toll road. (Notice no one calls it an information super-highway any more... I think we've lost sight of the disruption that everyone who flocked to it, and in turn lifted it up, was hoping for at the time.)<br /><br />Unlimited abundance and collaboration is itself a new way of creating, but that is lost on them.<br /><br />Instead of coming into the 21st century already, they and others are interested in maintaining creativity silos and publishing cartels under the glorious banner of promoting fair recompense, when the obstacles they place between participants prevents that goal. There is a very real opportunity here to drop these yokes entirely, and I hope the board and the courts can see that. It is not in anyones interest to continue to incentivise artificial scarcity and self-imposed ignorance in the coming years.<br /><br />A road without traffic is a tragedy. What Access Copyright is is a tax on publishing in the 21st century.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com