OTTAWA--The Canadian Federation of Students is pressing Heritage Minister James Moore and Industry Minister Tony Clement to expand "fair dealing" in the next draft of copyright legislation, expected this fall. At a roundtable consultation held in Vancouver on Monday, CFS-BC met with the two federal ministers responsible for reforming the Copyright Act.

"We urged the ministers to take a forward-thinking view of copyright that doesn't criminalize students," said Ian Boyko, Campaigns Coordinator for the CFS. "The 2008 draft of the legislation left a lot to be desired and we would like to see a better balance struck between the rights of users and creators in upcoming legislation."

Fair dealing is roughly defined as the right of individuals to make use of and share copyrighted material in certain circumstances, generally in small amounts for purposes such as private study or research. This right was upheld in 2004 by a unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of Canada.

In response to the government's previous failure to hold public consultations before tabling amendments to the Copyright Act in fall 2008, the Canadian Federation of Students held public consultations on university and college campuses in spring 2009.

"Across the country, students reiterated the need for amendments that protect the right of users to fairly access material while protecting creators from unjust appropriation," said Katherine Giroux-Bougard National Chairperson of the CFS. "Students and other creators rely on reasonable access to the creative work of others to keep Canada competitive and culturally vibrant. Copyright law should expand fair dealing to ensure that creativity and innovation isn't stifled."

The Canadian Federation of Students statement on copyright reform can be downloaded from the Federation's website at www.cfs-fcee.ca.

Founded in 1981, the Canadian Federation of Students is Canada's largest student organisation, uniting more that one-half million students from all ten provinces.