Copyright reform
The Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences is the
national voice for the university research and learning community in these
disciplines. It is a non-profit, charitable organization that represents more than
50,000 researchers in 69 scholarly associations, 75 universities and colleges,
and 7 affiliates across the country. Together, we constitute a substantial and
integral portion of the intellectual infrastructure on which Canada can rely to
build a more competitive and productive economy, as well as a stronger
society.
Representing as it does scholars who cherish and produce copyrighted
works, the Canadian Federation of Social Sciences and Humanities is
supportive of efforts to reduce the commercial-scale piracy. However, the
Federation envisions the Copyright Act as a tool to balance the economic
rights of creators and/or owners with society’s inherent right to gain access to
knowledge. In our view, it is short-sighted and detrimental to the long-term
interest of our country to think of new rights for creators or publishers as the
only way to increase activity in the cultural and cyber industries.
Access to knowledge is a crucial stage in the life cycle of creativity and
innovation.
The rights of scholars, students, universities, libraries, taxpayers and
consumers to access knowledge must be preserved to ensure that this cycle
can continue to generate novelty, critique, meaning, and collective cultural experience.
Submission this month by the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
www.fedcan.ca/english/pdf/advocacy/CFHSS_Copyright_Submission_Sep09_En.pdf