Middle powers and new copyright coalitions: better, stronger, more just?

In his Jan. 20, 2026 speech at the World Economic Forum, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recognized that "multilateral institutions [...] are under threat" and that current crises have "laid bare the risks of extreme global integration."

He recognized that "the story of the international rules-based order was partially false." "You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, " he said, "when integration becomes the source of your subordination." 

What should the Government of Canada do? Carney suggested that Canada, as an "intermediate" or "middle power" should "hear the wake-up call, leading us to fundamentally shift our strategic posture" to "build a new order that encompasses our values." 

Canada, he said, should find "different coalitions for different issues based on common values and interests." This, he said, "is not naive multilateralism, nor is it relying on their institutions. It's building coalitions that work – issues by issue, with partners who share enough common ground to act together." "We can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just," he said; "This is the task of the middle powers, the countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and most to gain from genuine cooperation."  

125 years: copyright independence lost

125 years ago today, John Thompson, Canada's "copyright" Prime Minister died suddenly, changing the course of Canadian, and possibly international, copyright history.

As Justice Minister, Thompson had seen the passage of a Canadian Copyright Act that departed from Imperial norms. Called "a declaration of Canadian copyright independence," the act set out to encourage the domestic publishing industry and the availability of books in Canada by requiring first or simultaneous publishing in Canada for works to be eligible for Canadian copyright.  This copyright nationalism was prohibited by the international  norms written into the Berne Convention, and as such, the Canadian government requested that the British Imperial government denounce the Berne Convention on Canada's behalf.

The Imperial government never carried out Canada's request, eschewing the norms of the time, because it was fearful that such a move would be copied by other countries and that the newly-established system of international copyright would break apart. It also never proclaimed the Act into law, despite the act's passage and receipt of Royal Assent (Bannerman, 50).

When Thompson became Prime Minister in 1892, the conflict over copyright was still live.  The Canadian government insisted on copyright independence from the Imperial government and the imperialist Berne Convention.  In 1892, Thompson explained why Canada needed copyright independence, writing:

The Berne Convention had in view considerations of society which are widely different from those prevailing in Canada. In Europe the reading population in the various countries is comparatively dense; – in Canada, a population considerably less than that of London is dispersed over an area nearly as large as that of Europe. In the cities of Europe, especially in Great Britain, the reading public is largely supplied from the libraries, while, in Canada, as a general rule, he who reads must buy. In European countries the reading class forms but a fraction of the whole population, while in Canada it comprises nearly the whole population. (Quoted in Bannerman, 50; see the original here; more archives available here)

I recount how this story ended in my book The Struggle for Canadian Copyright: Imperialism to Internationalism, 1842-1971:

The question of copyright sovereignty became a high priority.  Whereas the Canadian government under Macdonald had kept a low profile on copyright, Thompson placed copyright sovereignty on the agenda when he visited the Colonial Office in London in November 1894, calling it a matter that had “now reached what I consider a critical stage.” A meeting between Thompson and other interested parties was arranged in London; as a result of the meeting and the discussions that were to follow, Toronto’s Globe reported, “a decided step is likely to be taken in the settlement of this vexed question.” Shortly after, however, the 1889 Canadian copyright act lost its most important supporter. With the copyright issue still on the agenda and his trip to London not yet complete, Thompson suffered a fatal heart attack at Windsor Castle on 12 December, after being sworn in to the Queen’s Privy Council. His body was brought back to Canada on the HMS Blenheim, its sides painted black, and a state funeral was held at Halifax. The Globe noted the particular loss that would be felt by Canadian copyright interests. No other Canadian prime minister would give the issue as much thought and salience as Thompson had. (Bannerman, 61)

The "settlement of this vexed question" was never made known.  Had Canada Thomson brought home copyright independence, other countries indeed  might have followed.  Instead, the Berne Convention held together, hamstringing the Canadian publishing industry (as Eli Maclaren argues) and ensuring the continued dominance of British, French, and German publishers worldwide for over a century.

Delhi High Court issues historic decision for access to knowledge and education

In September, the Delhi High Court handed down a groundbreaking judgement dismissing Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and other academic publishers’ copyright infringement suit against the Rameshwari Photocopy Service and the University of Delhi.  Read my full post about it here on the Cambridge University Press blog.

Sci-Hub and the history of copyright in scientific works

Sci-Hub, the "Napster for academics", is a project based in the notion that scientific knowledge should be made freely available.  John Willinsky, in his recent article for TimesHigherEd, quotes from a letter sent by Sci-Hub's founder, Alexandra Elbakyan,  in which she explains why she founded the hub:

Elbakyan explains that as a student in Kazakhstan, she found the “payment of $32 [Elsevier points out that it’s as high as $41.95] is just insane when you need to skim or read tens or hundreds of these papers to do research”. She adds: “I could obtain any paper by pirating it so I solved many requests and people always were very grateful for my help.”

Willinsky argues, "This right to know is also behind this new, emerging academic publishing economy. It is aligned with the broader social and intellectual movement of open science."

However, the founder of Sci-Hub is currently being sued by Elsevier for copyright infringement.

Chapter 3 of my new book, International Copyright and Access to Knowledge  is called "Access to scientific knowledge." It recounts the history of international copyright in scientific  works.  In the chapter, I note that when the international copyright system was founded, scientific journal articles were placed, by default, in the public domain.  This is due in large part to the efforts of Haitian diplomat, doctor, and writer Louis-Joseph Janvier, in fighting for broad and liberal access to scientific works worldwide.  It recounts historical debates over the question of whether copyright should apply to scientific works, and traces the transformation of the international copyright system and the narrowing of principles of access to scientific works.

As Willinsky notes, Elbakyan carries on a tradition of civil disobedience that represents "a 10-fold escalation of the tragic protest of Aaron Swartz, a gifted US computer scientist and entrepreneur who committed suicide two years ago after being charged with theft for downloading 4 million journal articles to his laptop." Her efforts also reflect a sentiment that can be traced right back to the founding of the international copyright system, to before a time when copyright took a wrong turn.

Upcoming talk @ Ryerson: International Copyright and Access to Knowledge

Here is the poster for my upcoming talk for students at Ryerson University's School of Creative Industries' CREA T.O. speakers' series about my new book, International Copyright and Access to Knowledge.  Thanks to Ryerson student Daphne Chan, who created this terrific poster!

New Book: International Copyright and Access to Knowledge

My new book, International Copyright and Access to Knowledge,  is now available from Cambridge University Press.

The principle of Access to Knowledge (A2K) has become a common reference point for a diverse set of agendas that all hope to realize technological and human potential by making knowledge more accessible. This book is a history of international copyright focused on principles of A2K and their proponents. Whilst debate and discussion so far has covered the perspectives of major western countries, the author's fresh approach to the topic considers emerging countries and NGOs, who have fought for the principles of A2K that are now fundamental to the system. Written in a clear and accessible style, the book connects copyright history to current problems, issues and events.

"Sara Bannerman's thoughtful and compelling book is a must-read for all of those interested in the challenges of increasing access to knowledge. She offers historical perspective on the narrowing of the knowledge commons and identifies opportunities for positive change going forward."
-Susan K. Sell, George Washington University

 International Copyright and Access to Knowledge is available through CUP, Amazon, on Wordery. An excerpt is available here.  Purchases through CUP can make use of 20% discount code Bannerman2015.

Canada's Copyright Mystique

Two recent law review articles, both responding to the July 2012 release of the Supreme Court of Canada's "pentalogy" of decisions on copyright, take somewhat opposite views of the relationship of the Court's decision to Canadian copyright history.

Professor Ysolde Gendreau of Université de Montréal's law school argues[1] that Canadian copyright law, leading up to the Court's decision, lacked a statement of a broad purpose or philosophy of Canadian copyright.  There was, for example, no statement in the preamble to the Canadian Copyright Act outlining the act's overall purpose.  It also lacked an "historical mystique" that would lend an historical purpose to Canadian copyright, the way that, for example, the storied history of the French authors' rights movement lends understanding to the interpretation of French copyright today.  Given this absence, the Court strode into the void and fashioned for Canadians a purpose that placed users' rights on a similar level with authors' rights in Canadian copyright law--a step that Gendreau believes has "no textual foundation."

Professor Myra Tawfik of the University of Windsor's law school argues[2], on the other hand, that the Court, rather than taking a wrong turn in the absence of clear directional purpose, "demonstrates  a depth of understanding of, and a confidence in, Canada's own particular copyright story"--a story that is very different from those of countries like France, the US, or the UK.  Tawfik argues that the Court now finds itself not in a relative void, but rather in the midst of a fairly developed area of Canadian law: "Canadian copyright law is sufficiently well developed and internally coherent to stand on its own merits."

Both authors note that the literature on the "historical mystique" of Canadian copyright is beginning to appear; they cite my book, The Struggle for Canadian Copyright, Eli McLaren's Dominion and Agency, and Pierre-Emmanuel Moyse's "The Colonies Strike Back" chapter as offering some of the history of Canadian copyright.

In my view, Professor Tawfik's view is correct. The Court's view of the purpose of Canadian copyright law, which places users' rights on a similar footing to those of authors, reflects longstanding concerns in Canadian copyright history with the accessibility of books, their affordability, and also with developing Canadian creative industries and encouraging Canadian creativity.  The developing range of literature on Canadian copyright history reflects this.

 --
1. Gendreau, Ysolde. "Recent Canadian Development: Fair Dealing: Canada Holds to its Position." J. Copyright Soc'y 60 (2013): 673-673.

2. Tawfik, Myra J. "The Supreme Court of Canada and the" Fair Dealing Trilogy": Elaborating a Doctrine of User Rights under Canadian Copyright Law." Alberta L. Rev. 51 (2013): 191-201.

Struggle for Canadian Copyright: the podcast

I was recently interviewed for a podcast about my book The Struggle for Canadian Copyright: Imperialism to Internationalism, 1842-1971.  The podcast, available here, is part of the New Books in Communications series interviewing authors about their work.  Other podcasts include Robert Darnton speaking on the Future of Libraries, Melissa Aronczyk on Branding the Nation, and Jonathan Sterne on MP3: The Meaning of a Format, among others.

Huntington University talk: Canadian Copyright: Imperialism to Internationalism

I will give a talk at Huntington University's Centre for Communication Studies on Monday October 28 2013 titled Canadian Copyright: Imperialism to Internationalism.  

Canadian Copyright: Imperialism to Internationalism 
Sara Bannerman
Monday Oct 28 2013 at noon

Most histories of international copyright focus on the "great powers", such as Britain, France, and Germany. Canada’s experience with the international copyright was very different from those countries' experiences. Bannerman reveals the history of international copyright from the perspective of a smaller country and a net copyright importer.  Canada struggled and failed to gain independence from Britain over its copyright legislation in the early twentieth century, and the question remains: Can there be a Canadian copyright?

Correction: The talk is scheduled to take place October 28, not November 28.