| The focus of this thesis is the fair dealing defence in the British and Canadian copyright systems. The purpose of the thesis is twofold: first, to reveal the inadequacies of the defence in its present statutory form; second, to reveal the relationship between these inadequacies and a larger failure to understand the nature and role of fair dealing within copyright policy. With respect to the first inquiry, the thesis argues that the present fair dealing provisions in the U.K. and Canada are statutorily restrictive, rigidly limited in application, and crippled with arbitrary and pedantic distinctions. These provisions are compared unfavourably to the U.S. fair use model, which allows for a flexible and inclusive fair use inquiry, permitting reasoned analysis and principled consideration of the policy issues at stake.; The thesis is not, however, concerned simply with legislative reform. Rather, with respect to the second inquiry, the thesis argues that fair dealing and, to some extent, fair use, suffer at the hands of a common mischaracterization of the rationale behind the copyright system. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
