By Pascale Chapdelaine, Associate Professor, Windsor Law
In the context of the ongong Canadian Consultation on a Modern Copyright Framework for Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things, fifteen intellectual property scholars joined forces and submitted two separate briefs under the leadership of Windsor Law Professor Pascale Chapdelaine (Internet of Things (IoT)) and of Osgoode Hall law School Professor Carys Craig (Artificial Intelligence (AI)). The IP Scholars listed as signatories to the briefs include Windsor Law Professor Myra Tawfik. The IP Scholars presented their analysis and recommendations concerning some of the most pressing issues on the future of copyright law, AI, and the IoT.
The analysis and recommendations follow these guiding principles:
The importance of approaching the questions raised in the consultation with a firm commitment to maintaining the appropriate balance of rights and interests in Canada’s copyright system, consistent with a robust principle of technological neutrality.
Specifically with respect to copyright reform and AI:
The importance of ensuring that text and data mining (TDM) activity can be undertaken in Canada without the threat of potential copyright liability.
The importance of resisting calls to extend copyright protection to AI-generated outputs. Works generated by AI should remain in the public domain.
Specifically with respect to copyright reform and the IoT:
That the modernization of the Copyright Act requires a careful examination of the copyright framework within larger observable trends of dominant positions in the marketplace and anti-competitive practices, of the extraction of big (personal) data, and of market and legal infrastructures’ heavy reliance on non-negotiated standard terms (as evidence of consent, to legitimize various commercial practices).
The full briefs containing specific recommendations are available here: