Crown Copyright Reform

2009-09-09 — 2009-09-15

This email campaign is now over. Thanks to those who participated.

Here is what we asked citizens to do between Wed., Sept. 09th, 2009 and Tue., Sept. 15th, 2009:


You may use this form make a submission to Canada's 2009 Copyright Consultations. Our suggested text is modeled directly on Vancouver’s recent Open Data, Open Standards, Open Source motion (Open3). Feel free to personalize the subject line and body of your submission to express your own views on Crown Copyright reform.

Once you hit 'Send', your submission, name, and contact information will be emailed to info@copyrightconsultation.gc.ca.

68
Submissions Sent

Email Subject:

Crown Copyright Reform

Email Text:

To Whom it May Concern,

WHEREAS the Government of Canada is committed to bringing the community to Parliament Hill by engaging citizens, and by soliciting their ideas, input and creative energy;

WHEREAS the total value of public data is maximized when provided for free or where necessary only at a minimal cost of distribution;

WHEREAS when data is shared freely, citizens are enabled to use and re-purpose it to help create a more economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable country;

WHEREAS freely shared public sector data can enhance citizen communications, support the brand of the country as creative and innovative, improve service delivery, support citizens to self-organize and solve their own problems, and create a stronger sense of civic engagement, community, and pride;

WHEREAS the Government of Canada needs to look for opportunities to partner with the creative tech sector to create economic activity;

WHEREAS Crown Copyright hinders free re-use of information, allowing governments to censor users of that information;

WHEREAS reviews in the United Kingdom indicate that Crown Copyright is poorly understood by the public, and inconsistently applied by governments, constituting a barrier to the re-use of public sector information; [1]

WHEREAS the government of New Zealand has begun changes to their state copyright procedures to replace Crown Copyright licensing with Creative Commons Attribution where a license is necessary; [2]

WHEREAS the government of the United Kingdom has mandated the creation of a Crown Commons license to foster re-use of public sector information; [3]

WHEREAS the default license for government information in the United States is Public Domain, recognizing the value of government information as a public good; [4]

WHEREAS the Government of Canada has made specific exemptions to Crown Copyright, such as 2009’s Parliamentary Proceedings Exemption; [5]

THEREFORE, we ask that the Government of Canada reform its Crown Copyright policies to:

1) Release information that is not restricted by citizen privacy laws by default under a license that allows free re-use.

2) Produce a clear policy framework and process for agencies to disambiguate information ownership and determine copyright.

REFERENCES:

[1] Power of Information Taskforce Report, May 2009 http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/power_of_information.aspx

[2] NZ Government Open Access and Licensing (NZGOAL) framework, draft, August 2009 http://www.e.govt.nz/policy/information-data/nzgoalframework.html

[3] Cabinet Office Digital Engagement Blog http://blogs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/digitalengagement/?tag=/tim+berners-lee

[4] Copyright Law of the United States of America http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#105

[5] The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs 8th Report http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=3712105&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2

Signed,

Name
Address