Hog Tied & Raped by Canada

The Canadian government has a ridiculous system of copyright as noted in a blog entry by Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law. He argues that copyright policy in Canada is both (a) expensive and (b) subverted to political ends:

Documents from Public Works and Government Services Canada, which administers the crown copyright system, reveal that in the 2006-7 fiscal year, crown copyright licensing generated less than $7,000 in revenue, yet the system cost over $200,000 to administer.

In most instances, Canadians obtain little return for this investment. Ninety-five percent of crown copyright requests are approved, with requests ranging from archival photos to copies of the Copyright Act. More troubling are the five percent of cases where permission is declined. While in some instances refusals stem from the fact that the government does not have rights in the requested work, government documents reveal that some requests are declined for what appear to be politically motivated reasons.