University Of Toronto's Lawyer In Access Copyright Deal Also Advised Access Copyright On Related Legislation
from the the-bad-deal-looks-worse dept
In a recent post about the bad deal that Canadian universities are being asked to sign with the copyright collection society Access Copyright, I asked whether it was wise for the University of Toronto and the AUCC (which represents universities across the country) to work with lawyers who have a long history of arguing to limit fair dealing, when what the schools need most is a strong fair dealing argument. I noted at the time that even though both lawyers—Glen Bloom, who represented the AUCC in the negotiations, and Casey Chisick, who advised U of T—were presumably giving the schools the best advice they could, it seems virtually impossible for someone to effectively argue both sides of a contentious copyright issue like fair dealing. Besides, even assuming good faith and full disclosure, it simply doesn't look good: both Bloom and Chisick have established relationships with clients that have a direct financial interest in limiting the scope of fair dealing, meanwhile critics of the deals they helped the schools strike with Access Copyright say the schools didn't assert their fair dealing rights nearly as much as they could have.
It's already hard to understand why U of T and the AUCC would go along with this—but it gets even more concerning with the addition of a previously unnoticed detail. According to an email I've been provided with, and a disclosure made at a conference, U of T's advisor Casey Chisick was retained at the end of 2010 to advise Access Copyright on copyright reform legislation. It's unclear if and when this ended, and when I contacted Chisick to find out, he replied declining to comment or even to confirm or deny whether the relationship existed. But what's obvious is that Access Copyright's interest in the legislation (bill C-32 in 2010, bill C-11 now), and their submissions to Parliament, revolves around eliminating the new explicit fair dealing provisions for education that are being considered, since that would cripple their entire business model.
One big question here is, will the students accept all of this? Ultimately, they are the ones paying—directly in schools that pass the cost on to them, and indirectly in those that absorb it and have to find the money somewhere else in the budget. On one side they've got law professors inside their own schools loudly and publicly criticizing the deal, saying the universities agreed to ridiculously high rates (which should in fact have gone down from the previous deal) and unfair limitations based on rights that don't even exist; on the other they've got the U of T and the AUCC insisting it's a good deal, while working with lawyers who have histories of representing, advising and lobbying for organizations with a direct interest in stronger copyright and higher licensing fees. Now they learn that U of T's advisor also apparently advised Access Copyright themselves on a related legislative issue that bears heavily on the negotiations (he's also actively registered as a lobbyist for a music collection society, the CMRRA). How exactly are students supposed to react?
Quebec (which has its own copyright clearance system for universities and is not a part of this otherwise country-wide deal) is in its third month of widespread and intense student protests over tuition hikes, which have grown into a serious movement. It's a time of unrest for Canadian education, and not a time to ask students to swallow a bad deal negotiated under so many questionable circumstances. Appearances matter, and nothing about this looks good.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: access copyright, aucc, canada, university of toronto
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
If this deal had ONLY included a price hike and not even more outrageous restrictions like restrictions on emailing their content to other students & professors at their own university there wouldn't have been half as much controversy over it.
It's the draconian restrictions that everyday users of their content will notice that really turn people against them and fuel piracy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Think about the practice of criminal law. A prosecutor one day, and a defense attorney the next.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
But not on the same day.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
FTFY.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Unfortunately that doesn't seem have happened here - a lot of people are highly critical of the deal that was struck. Moreover, that gets pretty tough when you'r dealing with somewhat open legal questions (like fair use) where a single ruling can have far-reaching impact. A victory on one side can completely change the contours of the other side's argument - or entire business.
Believe me, I'm not trying to accuse anyone of conflict of interest. And these lawyers I talk about are, without a doubt, some of the country's top copyright lawyers. If the universities had come out of this with a good deal or even an average deal, I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. But as it stands, things just do not look good, and I can't imagine students are going to be very receptive to being told "no no seriously it's a great deal" while the lawyers go back to fighting against fair dealing.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
A situation like this suggests copyright law may need to be treated the same way.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
I also have detailed knowledge of the renumeration received by each, as well as how that renumeration is determined.
It is the latter that in large measure drives labor lawyers into two camps.
BTW, the employer camp seems to fare the best since the firms are generally larger, and, thus, are able to throw more people and resources at the employee camp in contested matters. Doubt me? You would not if you ever sat in on a deposition. The employee camp typically has one/two persons with the firm in attendance. The employer camp, depending upon the client (i.e., does it have a big legal budget) has enough people in attendance to start a credible Thanksgiving Day parade.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
The UofT administration is tied tightly into the political and economic power structure of Canada even if their tenured professors and other teachers and researchers aren't.
So it doesn't surprise me that the UofT would sign a deal that commits other universities in English Canada to a horrible, expensive set of payments and rules beyond what copyright actually covers. They're joined at the hip at the administration level to the likes of Access Copyright and others in the IP field by virtue of their being publishers themselves. As well as other levels of "The Establishment" as it's also considered "The Establishment's School" in Ontario and beyond and the administrators of the University want to keep it that way.
So it's not just the lawyer who handled that who is in a real or perceived conflict of interest it's the University administration and Board of Regents.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
"These are not the LAWYERS you are looking for"....
"He's right, these are not the LAWYERS we are looking for"
See how easy it is...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Think about the practice of criminal law. A prosecutor one day, and a defense attorney the next.
The criminal law analogy makes no sense. It would only make sense if you had a criminal lawyer who publicly advocated for, say, putting more people in jail, and was a lobbyist for prison companies... who then had to defend a client who ended up in jail.
This isn't a case where someone is just an advocate for a client. This is someone who has publicly advocated for a specific position and is working as a lobbyist related to that position.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Read it again, you silly fool. The author spelled out a very specific scenario. You ignored it because you either felt it inconvenient to address, OR, your parents wasted money on a Cornell education thinking you were bright enough to deserve one. Pick.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
www.ricvisa.com
I saw your details through the website. I would like to work with you. If you interested. I have
lots Clients to Study / Part time jobs for europe. (Teachers, Doctor, Degree Holders) So if you give me an appointment time to talk about this. We may meet Through the Skype or phone call. can discuss about it more.
After if you like to work with us. We can work in the future & make good business relationship with each other.
If you are interested we can arrange a regional offfice for you to work in in Sri Lanka.
I am searching for one of the best registered Employer and also CSCI Member ship
we understood for best of our knowlege according to your web site , that You are the best Employer. I would like to work with you we
at the present mooment of time we do have europe PR category for 10 clients, Work category for 15 clients, Investor Visa category for 10
clients, Study Visa category for 5 clients, and also I may arrange more clients, uppon your agreement ,
I would like to request seminar for you here If you are agree to come and attand the seminar here in Sri Lanka, That will be great plesuere for all of Clients.
and our Bord will arrange the total accomadation with all of your convience . And if you are satify with us we may plesure to give you a most immportant possition in our
company all we are doing this only for best service , I'm waiting for your proffetional reply and if you'll able to reply us that will be our great plesure.
Thanking you
Mr. Dilan.
Royal Immigration Visa Consulting
No. 257/1/1A, Galle Road
Colombo 06
Sri Lanka.Contact-
0094772484401
0094772484402
0094114552378
Skype ID : dilanravi
www.ricvisa.com
Email-jeansasi@yahoo.co.in
[ link to this | view in chronology ]