Harry Potter and iPod copyright issues
The connection between these 2 topics is the dubious distinction of creating head-scratching copyright issues.
Howard Knopf points out in his Excess Copyright blog an article from the Globe that talks about the over the top copyright claims of Harry Potter’s Canadian distributor. One can understand the desire of the publisher to keep the book under wraps until the official launch without any leaked details. Its all about hype, marketing, demand, and fan frenzy after all. It seems that the distributor has suggested that copyright law protects the confidentiality of the contents of a book until the author’s chosen release date. That’s clearly not a correct copyright principle. It may however be a breach of express written confidentiality provisions within the distribution chain, depending on how it was leaked.
Michael Geist reports that the Canadian Copyright Board has issued a decision that supports the addition of the private copying levy to iPods or indeed any elecronic device capable of copying music (aka computers, phones, memory cards, thumb drives, hard drives …). That’s despite a Federal Court ruling a while back that the Copyright Act did not intend for the levy to be on digital audio recorders. We have not heard the last of this one. Michael points out some of the issues this raises. Certainly more fodder for debate on the download/copying/fair dealing/copyright reform issue. (The numerous comments on Michael’s post attests to that.)
