Category: CRC12 / CRC13

And so to Cork, for the Irish Learning Technology Association‘s 14th annual education technology conference on the theme of “Opening up Education – Content, Learning and Collaboration”. I will be talking this afternoon on “Copyright, Technology and Education”. Given the topic of the conference, my focus is on whether copyright reform can open up education, facilitate greater access to content, and encourage collaboration in learning and teaching. The context of this talk is the Copyright Review Committee Consultation Paper (you can download a pdf of the Paper here (via DJEI) or here (from this site); and summaries of each of the chapters are linked from this page), which made many recommendations relating to education, including adding “education” to the “teaching and research” exceptions, making thorough provision for reproductions for persons with a disability, and extending copyright deposit to digital works. Here are my slides (pdf); there is a live-stream here; and I’ll put a link here to the video in due course.

The Copyright Review Committee has announced a limited extension of time for submissions. There has been a good response to the Committee’s wide-ranging Consultation Paper (you can download a pdf of the Paper here (via DJEI) or here (from this site); and summaries of each of the chapters are linked from this page).

However, although the date for submissions has already been extended from Friday 13 April 2012 to Thursday 31 May 2012, there have been many further requests for another extension. The Committee has therefore decided to extend the closing date to close of business on Friday 29 June 2012, in the following two limited circumstances only:

• first, parties who intend to make a submission to the Committee, but who feel that they cannot do so before the existing deadline of close of business Thursday 31 May 2012, should apply to the Committee before that date for an extension until close of business on Friday 29 June 2012. The Committee will consider such requests on a case-by-case basis.
• second, the Committee will soon publish on their website – probably here – every submission that will have been received by the current deadline of 31 May 2012, and the Committee will accept responses to those submissions until close of business on Friday 29 June 2012.

The online questionnaire will be available only until Thursday 31 May 2012. Thereafter, submissions which have specifically been granted an extension until close of business on Friday 29 June 2012, or responses to other submissions, should be made either by email or by post to Copyright Review, Room 517, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Submission by email is preferred; and, where this is done, respondents are requested to ensure that electronic submissions are furnished in an unprotected format.

It worth noting again that this is a limited extension, only for two specific purposes. However, It has always been the intention of the Committee to post submissions on their website to encourage engagement, consultation and participation, and this limited extension will facilitate this objective.

At the end of each of its chapters, the Copyright Review Committee‘s Consultation Paper poses questions based on the analysis in the relevant chapter on which further responses are sought (update: you can download a pdf of the Paper here (via DJEI) or here (from this site)). The questions are presented here by chapter. If you want the questions based on a particular chapter, click on the “questions” link after the chapter name immediately below. If you want the full list, just keep reading this post.

• Chapter 2 – The Intersection of Innovation and Copyright in the Submissions (questions)
• Chapter 3 – Copyright Council of Ireland (questions)
• Chapter 4 – Rights-holders (questions)
• Chapter 5 – Collecting Societies (questions)
• Chapter 6 – Intermediaries (questions)
• Chapter 7 – Users (questions)
• Chapter 8 – Entrepreneurs (questions)
• Chapter 9 – Heritage institutions (questions)
• Chapter 10 – Fair Use (questions)
• Final questions in the Paper (questions)
• Additional questions in the online questionnaire (questions)
• How to make a submission.

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As the title of the post says, this post has three updates about the work of the Copyright Review Committee. First, following a large number of requests for an extension of time to reply to the Committee’s Consultation Paper, the Committee has decided to extend the deadline for receipt of submissions to 5.00pm on Thursday 31 May 2012 (update: you can download a pdf of the Paper here (via DJEI) or here (from this site)). Second, the text to three of the questions on the first page of the Committee’s online questionnaire has been updated to confirm that certain information provided by respondents (such as postal address, email address, and website) will not be published.

Third, the Committee is delighted that Mr Dáithí O’Ceallaigh, Director General of the Institute of International and European Affairs and Chairman of the Press Council of Ireland, has agreed to chair the public meeting on the Paper. Mr O’Ceallaigh joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1973. He went on to assume posts in Moscow, London, Belfast and New York, before serving as Ambassador to Finland and Estonia (1993-1998), Ambassador to the United Kingdom (2001-2007), and Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva (2007-2009), as well as the World Trade Organisation and the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. In 2008, in Croke Park, he headed a small Irish team which negotiated the Convention to Prohibit Cluster Munitions which cause unacceptable harm to civilians.

The public meeting will be held next Saturday, 24 March 2012, from 10:00am until 12:00 noon, in the Robert Emmet Lecture Theatre, Room 2037 Arts Block (map here), Trinity College Dublin. The meeting will be divided into eight 15-minute question-and-answer segments, covering (i) the proposed Copyright Council; (ii) rights-holders; (iii) collecting societies; (iv) intermediaries; (v) users; (vi) entrepreneurs; (vii) heritage institutions; and (viii) fair use. Attendance is free and open to anyone interested in the work of the Committee, but registration is necessary. To register, you can

• email the Review,
• write to Copyright Review, Room 517, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Kildare Street, Dublin 2, or
• complete the Committee’s online questionnaire and answer the last question by confirming that you wish to attend the meeting.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Chapter 10 of the Copyright Review Committee‘s Consultation Paper addresses the third of the Committee’s four Terms of Reference (update: you can download a pdf of the Paper here (via DJEI) or here (from this site)). That third Term of Reference requires the Committee to

examine the US style ‘fair use’ doctrine to see if it would be appropriate in an Irish/EU context.

The chapter begins with a consideration of the doctrine in jurisdictions which have adopted it – these include not only the United Stated (see section 107 of the Copyright Act, 1976 (17 U.S.C. § 107) but also Israel (see section 19 of the Copyright Act, 2007 (pdf)), Singapore (see section 35 of the Copyright Act, 1987 as amended), and the Philippines (see section 185 of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 8293) (1997) (pdf)). The chapter also refers to jurisdictions which are considering adopting the doctrine – these include not only the United Kingdom (pp 9 & 44-47)) but also Australia (here and here), Israel India (pdf) and the Netherlands.

This is a very controversial issue which aroused the greatest passions both in the submissions and at the public meeting. The debate tracked four main arguments. First, the doctrine’s critics argued that fair use subverts the interests of rights holders, whilst the enthusiasts’ argued that it brings balance to the copyright system and accommodates the interests of other parties. Second, for its critics, a significant objection to the fair use doctrine is that it is unclear, and can thus undermine existing business models. On the other hand, for its enthusiasts, the main benefit of the fair use doctrine is that it is flexible, and can thus accommodate new technologies and emerging business models. Third, some critics argued that the fair use doctrine is not, in fact, necessary as Irish law currently stands, because the long-established and well-understood exceptions in the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 (also here) were ample, whilst some said that the addition of the European Union Copyright Directive exceptions (discussed in Chapter 7) would be more than sufficient. On the other hand, enthusiasts for fair use argue that existing exceptions are insufficient to support many aspects of emerging digital business models, and that an approach based on iterated exceptions (even as extensive a list as that contained in EUCD) rather than upon an overarching principle is too inflexible to accommodate technological innovation of the kind that has stimulated the growth of high-tech business in the US. Fourth, some critics argued that there is no evidence that the current copyright system in Ireland is inhibiting innovation, and in particular, that there is no evidence that a fair use doctrine is necessary to encourage innovation. On the other hand, many enthusiasts that innovators in the US benefit greatly from the doctrine, especially in the digital environment.
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Chapter 9 of the Copyright Review Committee‘s Consultation Paper considers whether the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 (also here) (CRRA) creates barriers to innovation by heritage institutions (update: you can download a pdf of the Paper here (via DJEI) or here (from this site)). As keepers of our cultural heritage from which much innovation can flow, copyright law raises particular issues for heritage institutions such as libraries, archives, galleries, museums, schools, universities and other educational establishments.

Many of the exceptions to copyright in both CRRA and the European Union Copyright Directive relate to educational purposes in general (which are discussed in chapter 7) and to heritage institutions in particular (which we discuss in this chapter). These are important interests in Ireland, given our strong cultural heritage and traditions in art, music and literature. Indeed, one important strand of innovation is likely to be provided by the creative capacity of artists to generate innovative content. In particular, many of the submissions pointed to the important role of libraries and other heritage institutions as repositories of all forms of intellectual heritage – whether print or digital – from which such innovation can flow.
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Chapter 8 of the Copyright Review Committee‘s Consultation Paper considers whether the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 (also here) creates barriers to innovation by entrepreneurs (update: you can download a pdf of the Paper here (via DJEI) or here (from this site)).

Although the interests of rights-holders are central to copyright law, the law recognises other interests as well, and entrepreneurs feature on both sides of this balance: sometimes as rights-holders, but increasingly as internet start-ups seeking to develop novel methods of engagement with content. A properly balanced copyright system should seek not only to reward initial creativity but also to encourage follow-on innovation. Hence, as with the balance between rights-holders and users in the previous chapter, one of the main questions for the Review is whether the copyright balance between rights-holders and entrepreneurs now requires further amendment, in particular to incentivise innovation.

The chapter begins by considering the contribution which entrepreneurs make to innovation. They are a key source of the innovation identified in chapter 2, and some of the submissions argued that inflexibility in Irish and EU copyright regimes hinder innovation, and that access to and use of legal digital content ought to be made easier and more attractive in Ireland and Europe. The chapter therefore assesses the extent to which entrepreneurs can or should be able to take advantage of copyright exceptions for the purposes of innovation. Finally, the chapter examines whether it is possible or desirable to craft a specialist copyright adaptation exception for innovation.
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