FROM THE OFFICES OF LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS
Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce News
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Vol. 6, No. 4, December 20, 2002
ISSN 1489-954X
Contents:
1. Studies, Legislation and Conventions:
U.K. delay implementation of E.U. copyright directive
Canadian copyright report
New Distance Education Copyright Act
2. Legal Cases:
Leave granted in Law Society of Upper Canada case
Movie studios sue online sellers of bootlegged DVDs
E-book lawsuit settled
Court hears children's books illustrator case
U.S. Supreme Court to hear CIPA case
3. Of Interest:
Ontario colleges settle software piracy disputes
Napster, the movie
4. Publications and Seminars:
Print copyright newsletter in 7th year
New digital licensing course
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Copyright, New Media & E-Commerce News is distributed for free by the office
of Lesley Ellen Harris. Information contained herein should not be relied upon
or considered as legal advice. Copyright 2002 Lesley Ellen Harris. This
newsletter may be forwarded, downloaded or reproduced in whole in any print or
electronic format for non-commercial purposes provided that its author is
acknowledged and that you cc: [log in to unmask]
This newsletter is archived with the National Library of Canada at:
http://collection.nlc-bnc.ca/100/202/300/copyright-a/index.html
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1. STUDIES, LEGISLATION AND CONVENTIONS:
U.K. DELAY IMPLEMENTATION OF EU COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE * The U.K. Patent Office
has announced that it will not implement the E.U. Copyright Directive by the
planned date of 22 December 2002. Formal consultation ended on 31 October
2002; the Patent Office says it needs until March 2003 to fully consider the
almost 300 responses received. See:
http://www.patent.gov.uk/copy/notices/report.htm
CANDADIAN COPYRIGHT REPORT * On October 3, 2002, a report on the operation of
the Canadian Copyright Act was tabled in both Houses of Parliament. The
report, Supporting Culture and Innovation: Report on the Provisions and
Operation of the Copyright Act, was jointly produced by the
Departments of Industry and Canadian Heritage, and proposes a direction for
future copyright reform. A parliamentary committee will review the report and
table its response within one year. See:
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/rp00880e.html.
NEW DISTANCE EDUCATION COPYRIGHT ACT * On November 2, 2002, the TEACH Act
(Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act) became law. Under the
new Act, accredited, nonprofit educational institutions can use copyright
protected materials in distance education without obtaining the permission of
the copyright owner and without payment of royalties. The TEACH Act enables
educators to deliver content to students outside the classroom, including the
use of Web sites and other digital means, and to convert some works from
analog to digital formats. Educational institutions must use these materials
only in "mediated instructional activities" and must comply with certain
conditions, including adoption and dissemination of copyright policies,
implementation of technology to restrict access and copying. See:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:6:./temp/~c107FFUrxH:e484087:
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2. LEGAL CASES:
LEAVE GRANTED IN LAW SOCIETY OF UPPER CANADA CASE * The Canadian Supreme Court
has granted leave to appeal in the Law Society of Upper Canada v. CCH case.
The Law Society of Upper Canada is appealing a May 2002 Federal Court of
Canada decision, which ruled that legal texts, annotated statutes, case
reports and abridgments of court decisions are protected by copyright, and
that permission is required from the appropriate legal publisher for
photocopying services like those of The Law Society of Upper Canada..
MOVIE STUDIOS SUE ONLINE SELLERS OF BOOTLEGGED DVDS * The Motion Picture
Association ("MPAA") is suing individuals in eight U.S. states over the sale
of pirated DVDs through online auctioneer EBay. The MPAA claims that the
sellers are breaching copyright by offering illegally copied DVDs or bootleg
copies of movies for sale. This is the first time that the MPAA has turned its
attention to sales on Ebay.
E-BOOK LAWSUIT SETTLED * Random House has reached an out-of-court settlement
with e-book publisher RosettaBooks, which was selling digital versions of
Random House print titles. RosettaBooks will continue publishing its existing
titles, and also work with Random House to publish further titles. The
settlement means that there is still no legal ruling on whether authors or
publishers control e-rights to books if there is no specific language in the
contract about electronic format.
COURT HEARS CHILDREN'S BOOKS ILLUSTRATOR CASE * On November 6, 2002, the
Supreme Court of Canada heard the case between Hélène Desputeaux, creator and
illustrator of the children's character Caillou and the publisher and author
of the text of the books. Desputeaux sued for copyright, contractual
agreements and "maternal" rights to Caillou. She was unsuccessful in front of
the arbitrator and the Superior Court of Quebec, but won on appeal to the
Court of Appeal of Quebec in 2001. See:
http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/information/hearings/fall/fall_e.html#28660
U.S. SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CIPA CASE * The U.S. Supreme Court is to hear the
Children's Internet Protection Act ("CIPA") case. CIPA, signed into law by
Bill Clinton in 2000, requires public libraries to install filtering software
that attempts to block sexually explicit Web sites. In May 2002, a federal
panel ruled that CIPA violates the First Amendment because the filtering
programs also block sites on politics, health, science and other non-
pornographic topics.
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3. OF INTEREST:
ONTARIO COLLEGES SETTLE SOFTWARE PIRACY DISPUTES * Two Ontario colleges have
reached an out-of-court settlement with the Canadian Alliance Against Software
Theft ("CAAST"). Although the colleges purchased Microsoft and Adobe software
legitimately, they then copied the software illegally between machines, so
that the number of licenses purchased did not match the number of workstations
running the software.
NAPSTER, THE MOVIE * MTV has confirmed plans to make a movie about the rise
and fall of music-swapping site Napster, and its founder Shawn Fanning. MTV
had earlier acquired the rights to the life story of Fanning, who created
Napster while he was a 19-year-old student.
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4. PUBLICATIONS AND SEMINARS:
PRINT COPYRIGHT NEWSLETTER IN 7th YEAR*The Copyright & New Media Law
Newsletter: For Libraries, Archives & Museums will be in its 7th year of
publication in 2003. If you would like a sample of this newsletter, email:
[log in to unmask] Subscription information is at:
http://copyrightlaws.com.
NEW DIGITAL LICENSING COURSE * Need to learn more about licensing digital
content like periodicals, databases and images, but never seem to have the
time to attend a course or read an entire book on the topic? Copyrightlaws.com
is offering a new course on digital licensing. Course participants receive 3 e-
lessons a week for 9 weeks, and also have access to a course list serv. The
course begins in February 2003, and costs US$99. If you would like further
information, email: [log in to unmask]
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This newsletter is prepared by Lesley Ellen Harris, a Copyright and New Media
Lawyer and Consultant. Lesley is the author of the books Canadian Copyright
Law (McGrawHill) and Digital Property: Currency of the 21st Century
(McGrawHill * see http://www.mcgrawhill.ca/digitalproperty) Lesley can be
reached at [log in to unmask], and at http://copyrightlaws.com.
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This LEH-Letter issue was prepared with the help of Beth Davies.
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