Book Publishers Whine To USTR That It's Just Not Fair That Canada Recognizes Fair Dealing For Educational Purposes

from the you-know,-like-US-law dept

A few years ago, Canada's Supreme Court made it clear that "fair dealing" should be applied broadly, especially in educational settings. Fair dealing, of course, is similar to fair use -- and, in the US, in theory, educational uses are also supposed to qualify for fair use. As Section 107 of the US Copyright Act states:
The fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
Thus, it seems like the Canadian interpretation is very much in line with the US's statutory view of fair use. Of course, over the years, in the US, publishers have repeatedly chipped away at fair use, such that now that Canada has moved to a position more akin to what the US's is supposed to be, those same publishers are absolutely flipping out. Last year, we noted that those US publishers submitted a recommendation to the USTR claiming that fair dealing in Canada was simply piracy. This was the publishers' submission to the USTR for consideration in preparing its annual Special 301 Report.

Apparently, this "fair dealing = piracy" argument didn't play well enough at the USTR and didn't make this year's Special 301 charade. So, the publishers are pissed. Or so reports a recent bit in Politico's Morning Trade (I'd link to the actual story, but Politico apparently doesn't believe in making it easy to permalink to its Morning Trade tidbits, so it's no longer there), where it notes they've asked the deputy USTR (and former BSA boss) to do something.
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Robert Holleyman is traveling to New York today to attend the opening ceremony of BookExpo America, put on by the Association of American Publishers. The industry group is steamed over USTR’s failure in a recent report to confront what it regards as Canada’s overly broad copyright exception for educational purposes. “Active engagement by the U.S. and Canada to remedy the damage should not be put off any longer,” the AAP said.
Think about that for a second. Here are American publishers flat out complaining about Canada setting up its laws to help people get educated. Do these publishers think even in the slightest about the kind of message they're sending out? "Fuck educating children -- we want more money."
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Filed Under: book publishers, canada, education, fair dealing, fair use, robert holleyman, ustr
Companies: association of american publishers


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  1. icon
    That One Guy (profile), 28 May 2015 @ 2:41pm

    No such thing as 'Too low'

    Keep in mind, in the minds of maximalists, libraries are huge dens of thieves for allowing people to read books without having to buy them first, and anyone who listens to music, in any fashion, without paying for each song is stealing it.

    "Screw education, we got to get paid" is perfectly in line with the maximalist stance on the matter.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    JoeCool (profile), 28 May 2015 @ 2:54pm

    Surprised?

    "Fuck educating children -- we want more money."


    That's what most colleges/universities/trade schools say in general today (google student loan fiasco), so why should you expect different from people who make school supplies?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2015 @ 3:00pm

    Won't someone please think of the children...'s parents' money?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    Roger Strong (profile), 28 May 2015 @ 3:08pm

    Speaking of Teaching...

    The more the book publishers focus attention on this issue, the more the USTR and Canada should use that attention to educate American officials on Section 107 fair use and the erosion of fair use rights.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    Roger Strong (profile), 28 May 2015 @ 3:10pm

    Re:

    Think about it? The Association of American Publishers is obsessed with it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2015 @ 3:22pm

    "-- we want more money"

    Did anyone ever think differently about the publishers?

    For that matter does anyone really think differently about government contractors and politicians in general?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Joe, 28 May 2015 @ 3:52pm

    Techdirt Swearing stats

    I get Techdirt by RSS so I had some fun checking out which author has the biggest potty mouth.

    This is highly (non) scientific based on what stories were in my RSS folder this afternoon.

    Pics or it didn't happen - http://imgur.com/a/VhMxm

    Bullshit
    Mike Masnick - 9
    Karl Bode - 6
    Tim Cushing - 6
    Timothy Geigner - 3
    Leigh Beadon - 1
    Michael Ho - 0

    Fuck
    Mike Masnick - 6
    Karl Bode - 0
    Tim Cushing - 6
    Timothy Geigner - 3
    Leigh Beadon - 2
    Michael Ho - 1

    Shit
    Mike Masnick - 13
    Karl Bode - 10
    Tim Cushing - 10
    Timothy Geigner - 9
    Leigh Beadon - 1
    Michael Ho - 0


    Conclusions

    1. Michael Ho's mother reads all of his articles.

    2. Karl Bode doesn't like the F word.

    3. Mike and Tim C are part time sailors.

    Side note: stats for the word 'shit' include it's presence in the term 'bullshit'. So of the 13 times Mike said 'shit', only 4 of those were plain old 'shit', indicating a 69.2% preference for 'bullshit'.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2015 @ 4:09pm

    Working in education, I am happy to hear of initiatives going in place to make free open source curriculum that meet the state standards for grades k-12. Even the school I am working at is planning on slowly building curriculum over summer for certain grade levels due to how much it costs for textbooks.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    Alien Rebel (profile), 28 May 2015 @ 4:09pm

    Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    Your stats are not relevant in evaluating the moral makeup of techdirt authors; when it comes to copyright, "bullshit" "fuck" and "shit" are technical terms.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2015 @ 4:11pm

    Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    "1. Michael Ho's mother reads all of his articles. "

    Okay... this more than anything I've seen all day made me burst out laughing.

    Well done XD

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2015 @ 4:34pm

    Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    HA! Now and then some wit SKEWERS Techdirt better than I ever can!

    They're 40-year-olds going on 13, still think that vulgar words have effect. -- Well, does, such as driving away the few women. -- I meant Techdirt writers actually believe that jamming in UNNECESSARY vulgar words improve a piece which at same they believe "professional"! It's a faith-based cult.

    And it's been a month of few and trivial re-writes.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    RD, 28 May 2015 @ 4:46pm

    Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    This survey is 69.2% bullshit.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    RD, 28 May 2015 @ 4:48pm

    Re: Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    Yeah? Well fuck you too! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to the latest meeting of the He-Man Woman-Haters Club.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Joe, 28 May 2015 @ 5:00pm

    Re: Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    1 a) She went on vacation one week and he slipped in a 'fuck' into a story.

    It's the only explanation.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2015 @ 5:04pm

    Re: Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    At least Techdirt writers assemble the words they choose into English sentences...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Gwiz, 28 May 2015 @ 5:33pm

    Pirate Mike is again spamming up SuprBay!

    https://pirates-forum.org/Thread-Assoc-of-American-Publishers-Fuck-educating-children-we-want-more-m oney?pid=104392#pid104392
    This is how it appears on level up and the page:
    Assoc. of American Publishers: "Fuck educating children -- we want more money."

    QUOTE MARKS MEAN VERBATIM, SO YOUR HEADLINE AT SUPRBAY LIES.
    I think that's defamation and that you should remove those quote marks.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2015 @ 6:04pm

    Re: Re:

    There once was an out_of_the_blue
    Who hated the process of due
    Each film that he'd paid
    Was DMCAed
    And shoved up his ass with a screw

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2015 @ 6:05pm

    Re:

    Still using someone else's moniker? You filthy pirate, you.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. icon
    JoeCool (profile), 28 May 2015 @ 6:53pm

    Re: Pirate Mike is again spamming up SuprBay!

    Quote marks mean just that - it's a quote. In this case, it's a PARODY quote, but still a quote. It's a little thing called humor... you might look into it some time. ;)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. icon
    Gwiz (profile), 29 May 2015 @ 8:56am

    Re: Re:

    Still using someone else's moniker? You filthy pirate, you.


    What is even funnier is that in the past Blue himself has stated that he believes that someone commenting with his *unregistered* screenname is committing fraud and that Mike should *do* something about it.

    Checkout this thread from when we had a couple of different people using the out_of_the_blue moniker just to annoy him:

    https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130227/14231422143/comcast-we-wont-terminate-your-account-un der-six-strikes-well-just-block-every-single-website.shtml#c735

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), 29 May 2015 @ 9:55am

    Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    This HAS to be fucking bullshit. I'm so disappointed in myself....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), 29 May 2015 @ 10:44am

    Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    This comment is fucking amazing. No bullshit.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. icon
    Gwiz (profile), 29 May 2015 @ 11:31am

    Re: Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    ...still think that vulgar words have effect. -- Well, does, such as driving away the few women.


    Blue asserts this like it's some sort of proven fact.

    Personally, I'm not so convinced that Techdirt's female readers are so easily offended by a bit of salty language here and there.

    However, I am curious, so perhaps some of you ladies could weigh in this issue?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 May 2015 @ 7:19pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    I think the most hilarious point of it all is that he either thinks that it's working to throw attention away from the out_of_the_blue moniker, or he thinks it's having any effect on the site's operations.

    But yeah, it's funny that he claims that using his unregistered pseudonym is fraud, he staunchly refuses to "commit fraud" - and two years down the road, look where he is.

    Idiocy comes full circle.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  25. icon
    Padpaw (profile), 29 May 2015 @ 10:54pm

    dumb children make for dumb adults that can be more easily exploited. See common core as an example

    link to this | view in thread ]

  26. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 May 2015 @ 8:10am

    Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    Well done, and good point. I love Techdirt, but the rampant profanity eliminates any chance the site has for a measure of gravitas.

    We all feel frustration and outrage about what goes on, but somehow all the cursing does is make the author seem out of control.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  27. identicon
    Meet Me In the Courtyard, 30 May 2015 @ 9:45am

    Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    The use of those cuss words is not in keeping with the spirit of political correctness.

    (F u c k political correctness. All attempts to rein in free speech or reign over free speech is a heinous crime against humanity.)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  28. identicon
    Check, 30 May 2015 @ 9:50am

    Re: Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    Cussing is not out of control. Bombing people is out of control.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  29. icon
    sorrykb (profile), 30 May 2015 @ 2:56pm

    Re: Re: Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    Personally, I'm not so convinced that Techdirt's female readers are so easily offended by a bit of salty language here and there.

    However, I am curious, so perhaps some of you ladies could weigh in this issue?

    OK, as a woman who's a regular reader here, I'll weigh in on this:
    There are plenty of offensive things in this world. (This site deals with a fair number of them.) Salty language -- in itself -- isn't one of them.

    I still think profanity is most powerful when used sparingly. In my offline life I very rarely swear. When I do, the people who know me pay attention.

    On the other hand, I've known a few people -- women and men alike -- whose skillful use of profanity truly qualifies as art. NSFW, perhaps, but very entertaining.

    And regardless, sometimes a situation is so messed up that you just need to say...
    Fuck that shit.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  30. icon
    sorrykb (profile), 30 May 2015 @ 5:30pm

    Re: Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    (F u c k political correctness. All attempts to rein in free speech or reign over free speech is a heinous crime against humanity.)

    So.......
    Criticism is a human rights violation?
    ...
    wow.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  31. identicon
    Wendy Cockcroft, 1 Jun 2015 @ 5:59am

    Re: Re: Techdirt Swearing stats

    I am a woman, and I read TD for the insightful articles. That the writers sometimes swear doesn't bother me too much. It's how most people I know speak.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  32. icon
    rayashcraft (profile), 10 Sep 2019 @ 1:17am

    Michael Geist wrote about it in his first article: Why Fair Dealing Is Not Destroying Canada Publishing. The Association of American Publishers, however, is worried about the messy discussions around the China tariff list. The source copy on Publishing Industry Asks U.S. Trade Representative to Remove Books - https://www.achieveessays.com/

    link to this | view in thread ]


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