Re: copyright, crime, Canada

Pat McNees <103250.2371[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
>
> Last night on National Public Radio there was an interesting
> discussion about Canadian copyright law and crime -- I gather
> legislation was proposed that would make it impossible for criminals
> to benefit from copyright on their writings, but the speaker (a
> rehabilitated bank robber who now writes crime novels) was discussing
> the disadvantages of limiting copyright law in that way, because
> rehabilitation IS possible and writing is a valuable outlet for
> reformed and reforming criminals. For the legislation were victim's
> rights organizations who did not want serial killers to benefit from
> selling their story, etc.

     The issue has arisen because of the activities of a particularly nefarious serial killer, now incarcerated in British Columbia. He is convicted of the murder of a dozen or so teen-agers about 10 years ago.

Although captured for his actions, he refused to reveal where he had disposed of the bodies of his victims until a payment of $10,000 was made to his wife. The money was paid and the families could finally bury their children. However, the government did take steps (I believe) to ensure that the killer himself had no benfit from the payment.

The killer has been refused early parole (the application for which he recently became eligible for).

Now he wants to write his memoires and collect the royalties from this. The discussion has arisen, therefore, about ways of keeping this person from benefiting from his actions, and the denial of copyright was one suggestion.

Notes and comments:

    The discussion of this issue is currently within the real of the Justice Department and not the Ministry of Canadian Heritage which handles copyright policy. The issue is not dealt with in the current amendments to the Canadian copyright act (which will be passed into law any day now). Implementation of such a policy is some distance in the future.

    It would be extremely difficult to write such a restriction into the Copyright Act, without infinging on the legitimate rights (including those of reformed or pardoned persons). It would also have to pass muster with our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which makes it difficult to discriminate (I use the word neutrally) between or among various groups (we are having the same trouble writing a law which would help stop a vicious war in Quebec between 2 rival motorcycle gangs).

Ron B. Thomson, Chair,
Canadian Copyright Institute
thomson[_at_]chass.utoronto.ca Received on Thu Apr 24 1997 - 14:32:32 GMT