Re: Publishing on WWW

Jason Paikowsky (jpaik@gold.interlog.com)
Wed, 28 Dec 1994 14:43:08 -0800

I have been following the discussion here on copyright, and fair use and
its bearing on WWW publishing. Inet-marketing subscribers might be
interested in knowing that here in Canada, we have a "fair dealing"
provision in our Copyright Act, wherein fair dealing is not an exception
to the rights of copyright owners. It is meant to be a valid defence in
cases where infringement has occured. While it is typically raised in
regard to an infringement of the right to reproduce, it is meant to be
invoked in regard to the infringment of any of the copyright owner's
exclusive rights.

In the Canadian Copyright Act, the copyright holder has the exclusive
right to reproduce his/her work - all of it or a part of it, but has no
right to control the reproduction of a non-substantial part of the work.

Therefore it seems that I can quote a portion of another author's work on
my WWW page, not by virtue of a copyright exemption or fair dealing, but
because there is no copyright in a non-substantial part of a work.

As Lew Rose has already pointed out, the doctrine of fair use (and in
Canada, fair dealing) is complicated in application, so I'll stop here.

Copyright is such a critical aspect of Net publishing; I trust we will
hear from others on this issue, within the scope of marketing discussions
embodied in this list.

Jason Paikowsky 905-257-1660 (voice)
JZP Associates 905-257-3130 (fax
Oakville, Ontario jpaik@interlog.com (e-mail)

Consultants to cultural industries