ask the Copyright Consultation for Crown Copyright reform

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ask the Copyright Consultation for Crown Copyright reform

Jennifer Bell
Hi there,

If you'd like to see changes to the way the federal government licenses Public Sector Information, one way to voice your concern is to submit a letter to the current Copyright Consultations using our form:

http://visiblegovernment.ca/campaigns/crowncopyright/

If you don't like the way the submission is written, you can always edit it to say what you like.  The important thing is to say something.

You can see from the consultation submissions listing that they are tracking form letters, like this one here: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/008.nsf/eng/00250.html

Which is generated by this website: http://www.ccer.ca/send-a-letter-to-ottawa-to-stop-the-canadian-dmca/

So even without changes, your form letter will be accepted and counted.

Jennifer Bell
http://visiblegovernment.ca




      __________________________________________________________________
Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real people. Go to Yahoo! Answers and share what you know at http://ca.answers.yahoo.com

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Re: ask the Copyright Consultation for Crown Copyright reform

Tracey P. Lauriault
I like the process you suggest but wonder if you might re-think crowncopyright.  It is a very old institution in Canada, one that will not disapear easily at it is part of the Formation of Canada.  Also, while crown copyright will probably not disapear, there are work arounds.  It is also perhaps not necessarily crown copyright that is the problem but perhaps it is the interpretation that is problematic.  For instance GeoConnections has created the following licenses - http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/licence.jsp, which still respects crown copyright yet is is pretty much simular to an open bsd.  This might be a very good license to wrap onto crown copyrighted data until which time if/when crown copyright disapears.

Also there are no clear data dissemination & access policies at the federal government that direct data producing sectors in the public service nor is there an infrastructure in place to do so.  So it might be good to add that too!  Access and the means to disseminate in a way that is easy for the public to use.

It is also important to discuss which data - Census? environment? Statistical? Geographic? Science? Research? and so on.

Cheers
t



On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 1:29 PM, Jennifer Bell <[hidden email]> wrote:
Hi there,

If you'd like to see changes to the way the federal government licenses Public Sector Information, one way to voice your concern is to submit a letter to the current Copyright Consultations using our form:

http://visiblegovernment.ca/campaigns/crowncopyright/

If you don't like the way the submission is written, you can always edit it to say what you like.  The important thing is to say something.

You can see from the consultation submissions listing that they are tracking form letters, like this one here: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/008.nsf/eng/00250.html

Which is generated by this website: http://www.ccer.ca/send-a-letter-to-ottawa-to-stop-the-canadian-dmca/

So even without changes, your form letter will be accepted and counted.

Jennifer Bell
http://visiblegovernment.ca




     __________________________________________________________________
Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real people. Go to Yahoo! Answers and share what you know at http://ca.answers.yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
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[hidden email]
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--
Tracey P. Lauriault
613-234-2805
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault
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Re: ask the Copyright Consultation for Crown Copyright reform

Glen Newton
I agree with Tracey: you are conflating copyright and licensing.

There is nothing stopping the government from licensing crown
copyright materials with some kind of creative commons for
documents/data and GPL/BSD/Apache/etc license for software.

I know because I have done it and so have others (including those that
Tracey have indicated).
[LuSql: software: Apache license, crown copyright; manual: CC license
and crown copyright
 http://lab.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/cistilabswiki/index.php/LuSql
 http://sourceforge.net/projects/lusql/ ]

I agree that a clearer (and more free access supportive) default
policy would be helpful, however.

-glen


2009/9/10 Tracey P. Lauriault <[hidden email]>:

> I like the process you suggest but wonder if you might re-think
> crowncopyright.  It is a very old institution in Canada, one that will not
> disapear easily at it is part of the Formation of Canada.  Also, while crown
> copyright will probably not disapear, there are work arounds.  It is also
> perhaps not necessarily crown copyright that is the problem but perhaps it
> is the interpretation that is problematic.  For instance GeoConnections has
> created the following licenses -
> http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/licence.jsp, which still respects crown
> copyright yet is is pretty much simular to an open bsd.  This might be a
> very good license to wrap onto crown copyrighted data until which time
> if/when crown copyright disapears.
>
> Also there are no clear data dissemination & access policies at the federal
> government that direct data producing sectors in the public service nor is
> there an infrastructure in place to do so.  So it might be good to add that
> too!  Access and the means to disseminate in a way that is easy for the
> public to use.
>
> It is also important to discuss which data - Census? environment?
> Statistical? Geographic? Science? Research? and so on.
>
> Cheers
> t
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 1:29 PM, Jennifer Bell <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
>>
>> Hi there,
>>
>> If you'd like to see changes to the way the federal government licenses
>> Public Sector Information, one way to voice your concern is to submit a
>> letter to the current Copyright Consultations using our form:
>>
>> http://visiblegovernment.ca/campaigns/crowncopyright/
>>
>> If you don't like the way the submission is written, you can always edit
>> it to say what you like.  The important thing is to say something.
>>
>> You can see from the consultation submissions listing that they are
>> tracking form letters, like this one here:
>> http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/008.nsf/eng/00250.html
>>
>> Which is generated by this website:
>> http://www.ccer.ca/send-a-letter-to-ottawa-to-stop-the-canadian-dmca/
>>
>> So even without changes, your form letter will be accepted and counted.
>>
>> Jennifer Bell
>> http://visiblegovernment.ca
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>      __________________________________________________________________
>> Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real people. Go to Yahoo!
>> Answers and share what you know at http://ca.answers.yahoo.com
>> _______________________________________________
>> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss
>
>
>
> --
> Tracey P. Lauriault
> 613-234-2805
> https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault
>
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss
>



--

-

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Re: ask the Copyright Consultation for Crown Copyright reform

Jennifer Bell
In reply to this post by Tracey P. Lauriault
Thanks for your comments, Tracey... but I disagree with your pessimism.  Even though Crown Copyright is old, it can still be changed.  

Personally, I'm inspired by the recent steps in the UK to change to a 'Crown Commons' license to improve ability to re-use public sector information [1] at the recommendation of the most recent Power of Information Task Force Report [2].  Even more interesting is New Zealand, where the state published a draft proposing that in all instances where Crown Copyright would be applied, CC-BY be applied instead [3], for the same reasons.

While there are examples of invent-your-own liscensing by different departments, these are exceptions.  Case-by-case crown copyright exemptions have also been made when challenged by the public [4] -- which seems a bit silly.  

It would be better if there were a consistent framework applied that favored allowing data re-use by default, rather than by exception.  Asking for Crown Copyright reform is one way to try to bring about this change.  

Of course, if no one speaks up, nothing will happen.

Jennifer

[1] http://blogs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/digitalengagement/?tag=/tim+berners-lee
[2] http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/power_of_information.aspx
[3] http://www.e.govt.nz/policy/information-data/nzgoalframework.html
[4] http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3953/135/

--- On Thu, 9/10/09, Tracey P. Lauriault <[hidden email]> wrote:

> From: Tracey P. Lauriault <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [CivicAccess-discuss] ask the Copyright Consultation for Crown Copyright reform
> To: "civicaccess discuss" <[hidden email]>
> Received: Thursday, September 10, 2009, 3:07 PM
> I like the process you suggest but wonder if
> you might re-think crowncopyright.  It is a very old
> institution in Canada, one that will not disapear easily at
> it is part of the Formation of Canada.  Also, while crown
> copyright will probably not disapear, there are work
> arounds.  It is also perhaps not necessarily crown
> copyright that is the problem but perhaps it is the
> interpretation that is problematic.  For instance
> GeoConnections has created the following licenses - http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/licence.jsp,
> which still respects crown copyright yet is is pretty much
> simular to an open bsd.  This might be a very good license
> to wrap onto crown copyrighted data until which time if/when
> crown copyright disapears.
>
>
> Also there are no clear data dissemination & access
> policies at the federal government that direct data
> producing sectors in the public service nor is there an
> infrastructure in place to do so.  So it might be good to
> add that too!  Access and the means to disseminate in a way
> that is easy for the public to use.
>
>
> It is also important to discuss which data - Census?
> environment? Statistical? Geographic? Science? Research? and
> so on.
>
> Cheers
> t
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 1:29 PM,
> Jennifer Bell <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
>
> Hi there,
>
>
>
> If you'd like to see changes to the way the federal
> government licenses Public Sector Information, one way to
> voice your concern is to submit a letter to the current
> Copyright Consultations using our form:
>
>
>
> http://visiblegovernment.ca/campaigns/crowncopyright/
>
>
>
> If you don't like the way the submission is written,
> you can always edit it to say what you like.  The important
> thing is to say something.
>
>
>
> You can see from the consultation submissions listing that
> they are tracking form letters, like this one here: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/008.nsf/eng/00250.html
>
>
>
>
> Which is generated by this website: http://www.ccer.ca/send-a-letter-to-ottawa-to-stop-the-canadian-dmca/
>
>
>
> So even without changes, your form letter will be accepted
> and counted.
>
>
>
> Jennifer Bell
>
> http://visiblegovernment.ca
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>     
>  __________________________________________________________________
>
> Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real
> people. Go to Yahoo! Answers and share what you know at http://ca.answers.yahoo.com
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>
> [hidden email]
>
> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss
>
>
>
>
> --
> Tracey P. Lauriault
> 613-234-2805
> https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault
>
>
>
> -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
>
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss


      __________________________________________________________________
Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail.  Click on Options in Mail and switch to New Mail today or register for free at http://mail.yahoo.ca

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Re: ask the Copyright Consultation for Crown Copyright reform

Tracey P. Lauriault
Thanks Jen;

I think it is great to get those ideas out there, but we would need a real concerted effort over many years like what has happened in the UK and NZ.  Those were years in the making and we are only starting.

If you look at most of the submissions there is barely anything there related to data nor science.  It is also true that once someone does it others will follow or copy, but Canada has been notoriously slow on these issues and it would be great to get something and the alta licenses across government are pretty good pragmatic places to start.

Also, if I am not mistaken, neither UK nor NZ have abolished crown copyright yet!

Abolishing Crown Copyright will take lots of fancy parliamentary fan dangling.

Cheers
t


On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 4:06 PM, Jennifer Bell <[hidden email]> wrote:
Thanks for your comments, Tracey... but I disagree with your pessimism.  Even though Crown Copyright is old, it can still be changed.

Personally, I'm inspired by the recent steps in the UK to change to a 'Crown Commons' license to improve ability to re-use public sector information [1] at the recommendation of the most recent Power of Information Task Force Report [2].  Even more interesting is New Zealand, where the state published a draft proposing that in all instances where Crown Copyright would be applied, CC-BY be applied instead [3], for the same reasons.

While there are examples of invent-your-own liscensing by different departments, these are exceptions.  Case-by-case crown copyright exemptions have also been made when challenged by the public [4] -- which seems a bit silly.

It would be better if there were a consistent framework applied that favored allowing data re-use by default, rather than by exception.  Asking for Crown Copyright reform is one way to try to bring about this change.

Of course, if no one speaks up, nothing will happen.

Jennifer

[1] http://blogs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/digitalengagement/?tag=/tim+berners-lee
[2] http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/power_of_information.aspx
[3] http://www.e.govt.nz/policy/information-data/nzgoalframework.html
[4] http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/3953/135/

--- On Thu, 9/10/09, Tracey P. Lauriault <[hidden email]> wrote:

> From: Tracey P. Lauriault <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [CivicAccess-discuss] ask the Copyright Consultation for Crown Copyright reform
> To: "civicaccess discuss" <[hidden email]>
> Received: Thursday, September 10, 2009, 3:07 PM
> I like the process you suggest but wonder if
> you might re-think crowncopyright.  It is a very old
> institution in Canada, one that will not disapear easily at
> it is part of the Formation of Canada.  Also, while crown
> copyright will probably not disapear, there are work
> arounds.  It is also perhaps not necessarily crown
> copyright that is the problem but perhaps it is the
> interpretation that is problematic.  For instance
> GeoConnections has created the following licenses - http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/licence.jsp,
> which still respects crown copyright yet is is pretty much
> simular to an open bsd.  This might be a very good license
> to wrap onto crown copyrighted data until which time if/when
> crown copyright disapears.
>
>
> Also there are no clear data dissemination & access
> policies at the federal government that direct data
> producing sectors in the public service nor is there an
> infrastructure in place to do so.  So it might be good to
> add that too!  Access and the means to disseminate in a way
> that is easy for the public to use.
>
>
> It is also important to discuss which data - Census?
> environment? Statistical? Geographic? Science? Research? and
> so on.
>
> Cheers
> t
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 1:29 PM,
> Jennifer Bell <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
>
> Hi there,
>
>
>
> If you'd like to see changes to the way the federal
> government licenses Public Sector Information, one way to
> voice your concern is to submit a letter to the current
> Copyright Consultations using our form:
>
>
>
> http://visiblegovernment.ca/campaigns/crowncopyright/
>
>
>
> If you don't like the way the submission is written,
> you can always edit it to say what you like.  The important
> thing is to say something.
>
>
>
> You can see from the consultation submissions listing that
> they are tracking form letters, like this one here: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/008.nsf/eng/00250.html
>
>
>
>
> Which is generated by this website: http://www.ccer.ca/send-a-letter-to-ottawa-to-stop-the-canadian-dmca/
>
>
>
> So even without changes, your form letter will be accepted
> and counted.
>
>
>
> Jennifer Bell
>
> http://visiblegovernment.ca
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>     
>  __________________________________________________________________
>
> Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real
> people. Go to Yahoo! Answers and share what you know at http://ca.answers.yahoo.com
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
>
> [hidden email]
>
> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss
>
>
>
>
> --
> Tracey P. Lauriault
> 613-234-2805
> https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault
>
>
>
> -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
>
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss


     __________________________________________________________________
Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail.  Click on Options in Mail and switch to New Mail today or register for free at http://mail.yahoo.ca
_______________________________________________
CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss



--
Tracey P. Lauriault
613-234-2805
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault
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Re: ask the Copyright Consultation for Crown Copyright reform

Russell McOrmond-2
In reply to this post by Glen Newton

On Thu, 10 Sep 2009, Glen Newton wrote:

> I agree with Tracey: you are conflating copyright and licensing.

   While it is nice to have policy which allows for public licensing of
specific data sets, government culture seems to be against that.  Yes,
there are some enlightened projects within specific departments, but as a
whole the government tends towards secrecy -- and will always attend to
misinterpret copyright as a tool towards that end.

   I still don't see simple postal code geodata that is important for sites
trying to get citizens more civically engaged.   While electoral district
shapefiles are available, neithor postal code to EDID or raw postal code
shapes are available.   I still don't know the "license" for the results
of an ATIP request, and whether we are allowed to republish or even write
about what we received.  I can't even get in writing what I was told over
the phone from someone at the Access comissioners office that I'm allowed
to republish -- suggesting no copyright restrictions.


   I agree that abolishing Crown Copyright won't be easy, but neither will
any of the other proposals we are making to try to turn from many decades
of bad copyright policy towards something reasonable.   Abolishing crown
copyright should be something we constantly ask for, even recognizing it
is not a short term goal.  It causes politicians to think about the uses
and abuses of copyright by the government, and will push them towards
supporting licensing which at least makes crown copyright stomach-able.



Note: I included abolishing crown copyright in my submission at
http://flora.ca/copyright2009/ .  I also included reducing copyright term
to a fixed number of years from the data of creation/publication, as well
as moving towards a registry/renewal system with a short unregistered
period.  I don't expect to see any of these in the next copyright bill,
but do hope that I also won't see any more term extensions.

--
  Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
  Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property
  rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition!
  http://digital-copyright.ca/petition/ict/     http://KillBillC61.ca

  "The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware
   manufacturers, can pry control over my camcorder, computer,
   home theatre, or portable media player from my cold dead hands!"

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Re: ask the Copyright Consultation for Crown Copyright reform

Daniel Haran
We're so early in these discussions that a consensus on what to ask
for from government seems premature.

In any case, the US right-wing has been so successful in stretching
the Overton Window that we should consider the benefit of groups
having different demands, including some that may sound unreasonable.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window
http://openthefuture.com/2008/01/overton_window.html

d.

On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 9:36 AM, Russell McOrmond <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> On Thu, 10 Sep 2009, Glen Newton wrote:
>
>   I agree that abolishing Crown Copyright won't be easy, but neither will
> any of the other proposals we are making to try to turn from many decades
> of bad copyright policy towards something reasonable.   Abolishing crown
> copyright should be something we constantly ask for, even recognizing it
> is not a short term goal.  It causes politicians to think about the uses
> and abuses of copyright by the government, and will push them towards
> supporting licensing which at least makes crown copyright stomach-able.

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Re: ask the Copyright Consultation for Crown Copyright reform

Tracey P. Lauriault
i submitted an addendum to my submission and have posted it here - http://serendipityoucity.blogsome.com/2009/09/13/copyright-consultation-submission/

thanks for the good discussion & pointers.

On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 9:54 AM, Daniel Haran <[hidden email]> wrote:
We're so early in these discussions that a consensus on what to ask
for from government seems premature.

In any case, the US right-wing has been so successful in stretching
the Overton Window that we should consider the benefit of groups
having different demands, including some that may sound unreasonable.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window
http://openthefuture.com/2008/01/overton_window.html

d.

On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 9:36 AM, Russell McOrmond <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> On Thu, 10 Sep 2009, Glen Newton wrote:
>
>   I agree that abolishing Crown Copyright won't be easy, but neither will
> any of the other proposals we are making to try to turn from many decades
> of bad copyright policy towards something reasonable.   Abolishing crown
> copyright should be something we constantly ask for, even recognizing it
> is not a short term goal.  It causes politicians to think about the uses
> and abuses of copyright by the government, and will push them towards
> supporting licensing which at least makes crown copyright stomach-able.
_______________________________________________
CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss



--
Tracey P. Lauriault
613-234-2805
https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Lauriault