Needless to say, Bram is exceedingly excited by this announcement:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11695416
which will inevitably bring with it all of the old misunderstandings about what fair use law can actually do....
It is not a panacea for all the 'bad consequences' of copyright law. Sure it may be a little more flexible than the fair dealing provisions that we inherited from the UK (to which we have at least added parody and satire) but a universal solution it is not.
Anyway it will be a discussion that needs to be had and may pave the way for real improvements. Bram will be watching.
These may come in handy:
de Zwart, Melissa, Fair Use? Fair Dealing?. Copyright Reporter, Vol. 24, Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 20-37, 2006; Monash University Faculty of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2006/09. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1069183
de Zwart, M.'An Historical Analysis of the Birth of Fair Dealing and Fair Use: Lessons for the Digital Age'(2007)INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY QUARTERLY, 60-91
