The Federal Court has issued a landmark decision (Blacklock’s Reports v. Attorney General of Canada — PDF warning) on copyright’s anti-circumvention rules which concludes that digital locks should not trump fair dealing. Rather, the two must co-exist in harmony, leading to an interpretation that users can still rely on fair dealing even in cases involving those digital locks. The decision could have enormous implications for libraries, education, and users more broadly as it seeks to restore the copyright balance in the digital world. The decision also importantly concludes that merely requiring a password does not meet the standard needed to qualify for copyright rules involving technological protection measures. If this all sounds technical, this post provides the necessary background and then reviews the decision.

Ironically,

The case arises from years of litigation between Blacklock’s Reporter, a paywalled news service based in Ottawa, and the Canadian government. Blacklock’s had launched a series of lawsuits against various government departments, arguing that some of its articles were distributed within departments beyond the limits of its licences.

However,

“how the password was obtained is significant as this may prevent a user from invoking the fair dealing provisions of the Act.” In other words, not all password sharing will qualify as fair dealing.