Canada's undefined 'education as fair dealing exception' continues to significantly undermine the rights of authors and publishers of educational materials, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP). This and other concerns were recently submitted by the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) on behalf of the copyright industries to the 2015 Special 301 Report to the U.S. Trade Representative.
The IIPA submission identifies copyright and market access concerns in 17 countries, recommending that six be placed on USTR's Watch List, seven on the Priority Watch List and special monitoring for four countries. AAP endorses IIPA's recommendations and urges that the U.S. government specifically engage with Canada and China to address the deficiencies in its copyright protection and enforcement regimes, particularly as they affect the publishing sector.
According to Tom Allen, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers,
AAP appreciates USTR's continued efforts to identify and engage with countries that have inadequate protection and enforcement of copyright. The US government engagement has led to greater cooperation from the Chinese government in addressing the longstanding problem of online piracy of scientific, technical, and medical materials. However, much work remains to be done to ensure that such enforcement efforts have a deterrent effect.
Over the past two years, the substantial economic harm to authors and publishers of educational works has only become clearer in the Canadian market. AAP hopes that USTR will prioritise engagement with Canada this year and urge a narrower application of the education as fair dealing exception to ensure compliance with international obligations.
