Quote, unquote: Good fences make good copyright

"I think of copyright law as a fence – a pretty, nicely constructed, non-threatening fence. And a fence is a structure designed to define property. A fence is not, in fact, a series of holes through which folks can figure out ways to trespass on property. By concentrating too much on the holes, and how one might use them to trespass, C-11 risks making the pretty fence of copyright completely irrelevant."

-- John Degen, testifying Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce about Bill C-11, the Copyright Modernization Act, recently passed by the House of Commons. Degen, a writer, poet, novelist and outspoken copyright activist, is also literature officer of the Ontario Arts Council (though he was careful to say he was speaking only for himself). He was formerly executive director of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC).