Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle of Rum

The Pirate Party of Canada has been granted political party status in Canada. While this may not resonate with the vast majority of Canadian landlubbers, a quick viewing of their Internet available material proved interesting.

Apparently the concept of the Pirate Party started in Sweden, home of Pirate Bay, and has chapters in other countries (e.g. England). Its international platform advocates inter alia a substantial expansion of use rights of copyrighted material, the abolition of pharmaceutical patents, the abolition of software copyright, and changes to the way the Internet is being commercialized. In other words, the Pirate Party “movement” wants to drastically alter intellectual property rights.

I agree that with respect to copyright law Canada is behind in terms of implementing the changes to its domestic laws to keep up with current international treaties and conventions of which it is a signatory. This is not entirely a bad thing: Canada has had the benefit of observing the perceived shortcomings of other countries’ legislative approaches (e.g. the U.S.’s overreaching Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and the advantages of other countries’ legislative approaches (e.g. parts of Australia’s Copyright Amendment Act 2006).

However, the feds have now twice failed to enact updated legislation and they should really be making this a priority rather than just paying lip service to the importance of the technology/information/digital economy in Canada. Perhaps the new status of the Pirate Party of Canada will move this higher up on the political agenda.

At first glance it seems that the starting point of some of the Pirate Party’s “manifesto” reflects the position of most Canadian scholarship on copyright law reform regarding protecting fair use / fair dealings rights in the context of new technology. However, as is the case with most single issue political movements, where the Pirate Party fails – both domestically and internationally – is it goes too far.

For example, I generally agree with the position that if I purchase a copy of copyrighted materials such as an e-book or a downloaded song, I should be able to use these materials on any medium of my choosing that remains within my control and I should be able to make multiple copies for my own private use. In other words if I pay for a downloaded song, I should be able to have a copy on my computer, my iPod, my iPad, my phone etc. I should also be able to lend a copy of the copyrighted material to another individual for his or her private use. Other enshrined fair use rights – particularly those related to educational purposes - need to be properly protected in new legislation. DRM and TPMs should not be permitted to be used to expand the scope of copyright protection.

New technology, however, does not mean I should get additional rights in copyrighted material. For example, I should not be able to “lend” a copy, or part, of the copyrighted material and continue to use the copyrighted material myself in any form while it is “lent” to someone else.

I should not be able to use another person’s copyrighted material to create “my own” material other than in accordance with the currently accepted fair use rights. New technology should not make plagiarism an acceptable form of “freedom of expression”.

Reducing the period of copyright protection, from the current standard of the author’s life plus 50 to 70 years to 5 - 15 years total, is punitive and ludicrous.

The fundamental principle of copyright is that it protects the expression of an idea, but not the idea itself. Copyright protection was created to protect and encourage the creativity of the authors of original works by providing them with rights to control the exploitation of their works for a certain period of time. Just because new technology makes the infringement of copyright easy does not mean that the law should pardon it.

If the Pirate Party of Canada wants to actually help move intellectual property reform forward, they need to modulate the international movement’s positions, and think about re-branding. Piracy by definition is an act of robbery. It is not something that any person that has anything to lose should be condoning.