Today in the Hill Times, copyright critic and University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist lays out five copyright myths in need of a good debunking. As I worked my way through the article, I became more and more excited at the possibility that Dr. Geist would make it through the whole thing without a single reference to the Canadian version of that American law I have pledged never to mention again. You know what I'm talking about. Is it possible Dr. Geist also took the pledge?
Maybe. While Myth #5 does reference the US copyright law, and sort of implies Canada might follow it despite an "emerging copyright consensus" (that ignores the published concerns of 100,000 professional creators -- just a side note), Dr. Geist never actually employs the term I have come to despise.
I'm going to go ahead and assume this is a coded back-channel message through the wall, indicating the thaw has begun and we are about to experience the Prague Spring of respect for creator copyright.
Are we nearing the end of the copyright cold war? Stay tuned.
the book room: novelist, John Degen interviews other writers, and talks about copyright way too much
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