Jun 9, 2021Walking Britain in Northern OntarioBefore Covid, I’d spent the good part of a year planning a group hiking holiday in Britain for my oldest and dearest friends. There are family connections to the sceptered isle weaving through many of my closest social connections, so our 2019 What’s App chain was a string of Airbnb…Hiking5 min readHiking5 min read
Feb 26, 2021Canadian Copyright Term Extension. Okay, but…Canada’s artists need the whole law fixed for an extension to really help us. As part of the Canada US Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) implementation, the Canadian government is right now in the process of extending the term of copyright protection for creative professionals and the creative industries with which they…Canada8 min readCanada8 min read
Aug 29, 2019Fighting Uphill for Artists’ RightsProfessional artists in Canada have had their legislative interests systematically sidelined and ignored. Time to fix that. Something must change about the way cultural policy is created in Canada, especially cultural policy related to market realities. The way it works now too consistently shuts professional artists out of our own…Copyright12 min readCopyright12 min read
Sep 11, 2018A Choice for EuropeAn optimistic, innovative future for artists and users of the internet; or the cynical status quo of “it can’t be done.” by John Degen Social media the last couple weeks has been filled with a great deal of discussion, argument, muddled information, and even intentional disinformation about this week’s European…Copyright5 min readCopyright5 min read
Aug 28, 2018Will Europe Stand up for Its Artists?Another heavily coordinated attack of anti-copyright spam and robo-messaging aims to scare lawmakers from protecting artists. by John Degen In early July 2018, in the face of a tsunami of highly questionable “protest” linked to influential and moneyed Silicon Valley concerns, members of the European Parliament declined to pass a…Copyright8 min readCopyright8 min read
Jun 7, 2018Why Can’t Canada’s Educational Administrators Do Math?The education sector brings bad stats and worse calculations to Canada’s Copyright Review. by John Degen More of Canada’s educational representatives have recently made presentations to Parliament as part of the ongoing copyright review. Sadly, the justifications they present for their enormous content grab post-2012 are not getting any more…Copyright6 min readCopyright6 min read
May 25, 2018Who is Spinning Education into a Corner?Looking closely at the Copyright Review testimony from provincial Ministers of Education, and seeing what incredibly bad advice they’ve been getting. by John Degen Recently, the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) appeared before Canada’s Copyright Review to give testimony on the state of copying and author payment in…Copyright6 min readCopyright6 min read
May 24, 2018Spinning Out of Control at the Copyright ReviewCanadian education reps try desperately to suggest their massive free copying isn’t hurting anyone. Ironically, no-one’s buying it. By John Degen The Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC) recently testified before Canada’s Copyright Review. Somewhat embarrassingly for CMEC, the review committee has been reminded several times now that way…Copyright6 min readCopyright6 min read
May 11, 2018Nothing to See Here, Folks. Keep Moving.Testimony at Canada’s copyright review shows cultural workers suffering, the world noticing, and education pretending none of that is actually happening. by John Degen Canada’s copyright review committee has been travelling the country, setting down in five major cities to hear testimony from individuals and groups. Testimony from the cultural…Copyright6 min readCopyright6 min read
May 10, 2018You’re Not Suffering EnoughNot all the questions or suggestions in Canada’s copyright review are good ones. by John Degen For the past while, I’ve been publishing a series about the questions asked by Parliamentarians tasked with conducting Canada’s copyright review. …Copyright5 min readCopyright5 min read
