Further to my recent post about Crown copyright, Mark Lewis at slaw notes that Reproduction of Federal Law Order S.I. 97-115 (which, I must say, has an amazingly unwieldy title) provides for a relatively effective license for the reproduction of
"enactments and consolidations of enactments of the Government of Canada, and decisions and reasons for decisions of federally-constituted courts and administrative tribunals"
The license is, however, conditioned on the exercise of "due diligence" in ensuring the accuracy of the materials.
As the Order notes, "it is of fundamental importance to a democratic society that its law be widely known and that its citizens have unimpeded access to that law" - which begs the question: what then is the justification for a copyright law which has the effect of impeding such access? Further, as Lewis notes, the Order is restricted to federal laws and decisions - though apparently the provincial governments "generally abide by the spirit" of the Order. While the sentiment is very sweet, for the life of me I can't begin to imagine why the right of a Canadian to access his or her own laws should depend on the good graces of the bureaucatic mind. The Ontario government has a policy statement (which can presumably be rescinded or modified at a whim) which requires any reproduction to contain a notice of Crown copyright.
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