CBC online licensing page links to American copyright law

The CBC’s licensing option on its online news articles may be misleading users into thinking American copyright laws apply to its website, say critics. The CBC’s licensing option on its website links to Seattle-based copyright licensing company iCopyright. When users click on a news story, the word “license” appears on the top left corner of the window. Underneath appears the message, “New licensing option: POST all or part of this article on a web site, intranet or blog.” Selecting this option opens an iCopyright window, directing the user to post, republish, print or email the story, or to “Learn more.” The “Learn more” option directs the user to an information page authored by iCopyright. Here the user can click “report piracy” or “know the facts,” two options that refer to American Fair Use laws. “Canadians might think they have to comply with the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA),” John Lawford, counsel with consumer advocacy group the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), said in an interview. “It’s unfortunate. They should at least have a disclaimer saying Canadian law is not American law,” he said. “Canadian users should at least be redirected to the Canadian Department of Justice Copyright Act.” The price of licensing an article for reproduction varies depending on whether the user is for-profit or non-profit. A for-profit user would pay $250 to post an article for a one-month period; a one-year post costs $500. CBC spokesman Jeff Keay said the CBC began using iCopyright about a year ago. He said the licensing costs are in response to budget cuts at the CBC. If you are going to send copies or print emails for a certain number, there is a fee,” he said. “That absolutely is a revenue-generating move on our part. It helps defray the costs of running the website.” Keay could not say whether the American copyright information page would be edited to reflect Canadian law. There is little stopping website visitors from cutting and pasting articles into blogs or emails, however. “I’d be surprised if they got much money out of this,” Howard Knopf, a copyright lawyer at Macera & Jarzyna LLP, said in an interview. “They would never be able to catch ,” Lawford added. “It would be a lot of work.”

CBC online licensing page links to American copyright law

Broadcast | January 29, 2010

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