Canada's Trade Minister Mary Ng has dismissed U.S. protests over Canada's record on protecting copyright owners as merely a "political tool," according to a staff briefing note. Blacklock's Reporter says the United States recently placed Canada on its 2024 "watch list" due to concerns over copyright theft."It serves as a political tool to satisfy domestic U.S. stakeholders," stated the April 25 briefing note. "The United States has strong offensive interests in the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights globally and places countries with alleged inadequate intellectual property laws in three escalating categories: 'Watch List,' 'Priority Watch List,' and 'Priority Foreign Country.'""Canada is on the 'Watch List' for 2024," the note added, referring to the Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Protection. "Canada does not recognize the validity of the report."The note to Ng also asserted that any complaint about Canada tolerating copyright theft "relies primarily on industry allegations rather than empirical evidence and objective analysis." It emphasized, "We continue to engage bilaterally and constructively on intellectual property issues with the United States."The United States Trade Representative's April 25 Special 301 Report cited numerous shortcomings in Canada's copyright protection. "Levels of online piracy remain very high in Canada," it said. It also criticized court rulings that allow mass copying of literary works, claiming they have "significantly damaged the market for educational authors and publishers."Canadian authors and publishers have reportedly lost over $200 million in royalties since a 2012 Supreme Court ruling permitted mass photocopying of books under the guise of "personal research." York University of Toronto admitted in court documents to distributing 29 million photocopies in student course packs without payment or permission.Adding to the controversy, Department of Justice lawyers secured a Federal Court ruling on May 31 in Blacklock’s Reporter v. Attorney General, which expanded copyright theft to include password sharing. The U.S. Trade Representative has not yet commented on this ruling.Evidence in the Blacklock’s case showed that a Parks Canada manager, Genevieve Patenaude, purchased a single password and shared it with at least nine people. Justice Yvan Roy ruled that while Patenaude made an obvious "mistake" — Blacklock’s terms against password sharing were "plainly visible," he said — passwords could now be shared for any "legitimate business reason" where there is "significant public interest in reading articles."Ng and her department have not publicly discussed the impact of the password ruling. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, when asked about it on June 19, acknowledged that she too had shared password-protected news articles. "I am a huge believer in the value of the work that all you guys do, the work of professional, salaried journalists," Freeland told reporters.
Canada's Trade Minister Mary Ng has dismissed U.S. protests over Canada's record on protecting copyright owners as merely a "political tool," according to a staff briefing note. Blacklock's Reporter says the United States recently placed Canada on its 2024 "watch list" due to concerns over copyright theft."It serves as a political tool to satisfy domestic U.S. stakeholders," stated the April 25 briefing note. "The United States has strong offensive interests in the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights globally and places countries with alleged inadequate intellectual property laws in three escalating categories: 'Watch List,' 'Priority Watch List,' and 'Priority Foreign Country.'""Canada is on the 'Watch List' for 2024," the note added, referring to the Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Protection. "Canada does not recognize the validity of the report."The note to Ng also asserted that any complaint about Canada tolerating copyright theft "relies primarily on industry allegations rather than empirical evidence and objective analysis." It emphasized, "We continue to engage bilaterally and constructively on intellectual property issues with the United States."The United States Trade Representative's April 25 Special 301 Report cited numerous shortcomings in Canada's copyright protection. "Levels of online piracy remain very high in Canada," it said. It also criticized court rulings that allow mass copying of literary works, claiming they have "significantly damaged the market for educational authors and publishers."Canadian authors and publishers have reportedly lost over $200 million in royalties since a 2012 Supreme Court ruling permitted mass photocopying of books under the guise of "personal research." York University of Toronto admitted in court documents to distributing 29 million photocopies in student course packs without payment or permission.Adding to the controversy, Department of Justice lawyers secured a Federal Court ruling on May 31 in Blacklock’s Reporter v. Attorney General, which expanded copyright theft to include password sharing. The U.S. Trade Representative has not yet commented on this ruling.Evidence in the Blacklock’s case showed that a Parks Canada manager, Genevieve Patenaude, purchased a single password and shared it with at least nine people. Justice Yvan Roy ruled that while Patenaude made an obvious "mistake" — Blacklock’s terms against password sharing were "plainly visible," he said — passwords could now be shared for any "legitimate business reason" where there is "significant public interest in reading articles."Ng and her department have not publicly discussed the impact of the password ruling. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, when asked about it on June 19, acknowledged that she too had shared password-protected news articles. "I am a huge believer in the value of the work that all you guys do, the work of professional, salaried journalists," Freeland told reporters.
