The Canadian Library Association has written a blistering open letter to Access Copyright, the organization that collects authors' royalties from libraries in Canada. The librarians wrote about Captain Copyright, kid-targeted copyright maximalist character that Access Copyright spent its money promoting:
The most disturbing aspect of the Captain Copyright advertising campaign is the
targeting of children with propaganda-style tools. Advertising Standards Canada, a self-regulating trade association, reminds us that advertising to children is illegal in Quebec
and its Canadian Code of Advertising Standards provides guidelines for the rest of
Canada. It explicitly states that exploiting children's credulity, lack of experience or
sense of loyalty is forbidden. As an entity mandated by law, Access Copyright should be
held to the highest standards of accuracy and should carefully reconsider Captain
Copyright in light of the Code.CLA believes that any copyright advocacy initiative intended to be used directly by
children or in the classroom by teachers should be developed, if required, by the
institutions which represent the education community, like the Council of Ministers of
Education, Canada, the Canadian Teachers' Federation, and with the library community.
Captain Copyright is a unilateral initiative on the part of Access Copyright and reflects its
own perception, not the broader Canadian perspective.
(Thanks, Kim!)
