Julianna Yau’s blog

The pandemonium being generated around the upcoming copyright legislation has been tiring. Although I think it’s fabulous that users are taking an interest in and being represented for copyright issues, I wonder whether the loudest of them have done enough study into the issues of copyright. With my own focus of copyright on the visual arts alone (excluding New Media and interdisciplinary arts), I feel that I am sufficiently prepared to tackle the issues with my peers after a few years of study. Not to diminish the importance of user rights, but how many of the users who are complaining have an understanding of the issues in addition to being aware of the issues? Theirs are ones which spread across several disciplines and, as I have noted before, they can’t all be treated the same way.
At this point, I am more concerned about all of the rumours flying around the copyright legislation than the legislation itself. This op-ed post at the CCC pretty much encapsulates my feelings about the pandemonium, and sets me off to wondering again. This time, it’s whether any of the users who have been rallied to fight for fair copyright will actually take the time to read and analyse the proposals…or if they will simply take the word of the Michael Geist & co. No matter how just the cause, blind acceptance is a dangerous thing.

Related posts

• Week (or so) in review: Copyright (1)
• Visual artists on copyright reform (0)
• Other responses to the CCC platform (2)
• Copyright Reform Key Protection for Canada’s Artists (2)
• Why SOME creative people are putting their work free on the Net (1)