Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has come out in support of sharing password-protected news stories, following a Federal Court ruling that permits the practice, says Blacklock's Reporter.Freeland, a former journalist, stated that she regularly shares news articles with friends and believes in the value of professional journalism.When asked about her own subscriptions, Freeland joked that she still reads two newspapers every day in print and takes pictures of the articles to share with others. She expressed her support for the work of professional journalists, saying "I am a huge believer in the value of the work that all of you guys do."The Federal Court ruling, won by Department of Justice lawyers, allows Canadians to share passwords to access paywalled media content if they have a "legitimate business reason" for doing so. Evidence showed Genevieve Patenaude, a Parks Canada manager, bought a single Blacklock’s password and then emailed it to any co-worker who asked, at least nine people, “if you ever need to access any Blacklock’s article.” Parks Canada had 2,160 employees at the time.Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair at the University of Ottawa, called the ruling a "huge win" for those seeking free content, with significant implications for libraries, education, and users in general.The ruling has sparked debate about copyright protection and the future of the news industry. Blacklock's, the plaintiff in the case, argued that its password system was standard in the news business, while Globe & Mail executives testified that selling passwords to paywalled content was necessary to drive subscriptions. “The majority of our revenue comes from the 120,000 digital subscribers and 110,000 print subscribers who currently pay to consume our journalism,” testified then-publisher Philip Crawley.“The cornerstone of our business is not advertising which is a revenue stream that shrinks each year,” said Crawley. “No, the present and the future of the Globe is founded on readers and users paying for our content. More than 60% of our revenue comes from subscriptions, print and digital. Advertising revenue is now only 33 percent.”The Commons heritage committee had previously recommended tightening the Copyright Act to protect creators from haphazard sharing, but cabinet never acted on the report.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has come out in support of sharing password-protected news stories, following a Federal Court ruling that permits the practice, says Blacklock's Reporter.Freeland, a former journalist, stated that she regularly shares news articles with friends and believes in the value of professional journalism.When asked about her own subscriptions, Freeland joked that she still reads two newspapers every day in print and takes pictures of the articles to share with others. She expressed her support for the work of professional journalists, saying "I am a huge believer in the value of the work that all of you guys do."The Federal Court ruling, won by Department of Justice lawyers, allows Canadians to share passwords to access paywalled media content if they have a "legitimate business reason" for doing so. Evidence showed Genevieve Patenaude, a Parks Canada manager, bought a single Blacklock’s password and then emailed it to any co-worker who asked, at least nine people, “if you ever need to access any Blacklock’s article.” Parks Canada had 2,160 employees at the time.Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair at the University of Ottawa, called the ruling a "huge win" for those seeking free content, with significant implications for libraries, education, and users in general.The ruling has sparked debate about copyright protection and the future of the news industry. Blacklock's, the plaintiff in the case, argued that its password system was standard in the news business, while Globe & Mail executives testified that selling passwords to paywalled content was necessary to drive subscriptions. “The majority of our revenue comes from the 120,000 digital subscribers and 110,000 print subscribers who currently pay to consume our journalism,” testified then-publisher Philip Crawley.“The cornerstone of our business is not advertising which is a revenue stream that shrinks each year,” said Crawley. “No, the present and the future of the Globe is founded on readers and users paying for our content. More than 60% of our revenue comes from subscriptions, print and digital. Advertising revenue is now only 33 percent.”The Commons heritage committee had previously recommended tightening the Copyright Act to protect creators from haphazard sharing, but cabinet never acted on the report.
