Canada’s Controversial Copyright Law, Bill C-61, Passes

On June 12th, the Canadian Minister on Industry Jim Prentice introduced the passing of Bill C-61, a law that makes it illegal in Canada to break “digital locks” (DRM, aka Digital Rights Management, technology) on copywritten material.  C-61 is being compared to the American DMCA (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act), a law passed in 1998 that allows for legal action to be taken at the discretion of copyright holders against those who’d use copywritten material without consent.

The DMCA gives power to copyright holders to essentially have a say in the usage of their material for purposes such as research and to allow them to literally bully people whom they feel are falsely presenting or discussing said copywritten material. A well-known case of such an application of the law is the case of Edward Felton, the academic, in 2000-2001.

What makes C-61 so interesting is that it supersedes previous rulings about the usage of copywritten material, including “fair game” clauses in previous laws that among other things, allowed for material to be used as satire (and musically, in remixes and “mashups”). This gives power to copyright holders almost exclusively, allowing them to decide if material being used (in academics and other non-economic/market forms) is “distort[ing] or mutilat[ing] a copyright performance.”

Basically? Not only does this make it illegal to break copyrights (like DRM on CDs you’re burning to trade online) but it also extends to making it possible for a copyright holder to press charges against you for utilizing artwork in satire that the holder of the copyright on the artwork doesn’t approve of, and also for original satire of copywritten material to be held legally accountable for “mutilating” the original material. Pretty scary, huh? Bet you’re thinking twice about moving up there if McCain is elected. While the exact implications of this in the US is unknown, seeing as we already have the DMCA here, the widespread reach C-61 is definitely something to think about.

Some great analysis of the bill can be found here by Michael Geist. Thanks to Punknews.org for the tip towards this story.