Education exemption to copyright law a terrible idea says Geist

Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, has some stern words about the so-called "education exemption" for copyright. It appeared in the Law Bytes column that he write for a number of outlets, including the Toronto Star and later posts on his website. Geist is a frequent commentator on internet law and copyright issues.

He points out that the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), including the ministers of education from across Canada (with the exception of Quebec) is lobbying for a special exception that would allow the education community to freely use any works that are publicly available on the Internet.

Geist says such an exception is simply not needed, since there is plenty of protection in the "fair dealing" provisions of the Copyright Act.

He also says the implication is that anyone outside the education system who uses Internet-based materials is somehow violating the law. "This is simply wrong — an enormous amount of online content is intended for public use or qualifies as fair dealing — and to imply otherwise sends the wrong message."

Plus he says that the exception may violate international law, will actually encourage people to take content offline or to erect barriers that limit access and the exception may come at huge political cost.

To read the whole article, go here.

[Thanks for the tip to the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) blog.]