The Costs of Crown Copyright

Michael Geist has another interesting post today on the issue of Crown copyright.  As Geist notes, and as I discussed in this post, this is an issue which on its face is startlingly boring but in practice has considerable implications for not only the dissemination of information, but also for ensuring the broadest possible ambit for reviewing and critiquing government action.  And it needs to be emphasized: the Canadian approach (which grants the government copyright for a period of fifty years) is painfully deficient when compared to the position of our American neighbours (no copyright in government materials).  Catherine Bond wrote a comprehensive overview [.pdf] of the matter (in the Australian context, which is comparable to the Canadian) which is well worth the time to read.