I've definitely written from time to time about Project Gutenberg, which has an impressive array of books in the public domain. Generally, the US has the most restrictive copyright laws across the globe, so if something is available at the main Project Gutenberg site, it is generally fine everywhere else. Then there are spin-off variants, such as Project Gutenberg Australia, which has somewhat relaxed rules and more books available obviously.
I was quite surprised to stumble across a Canadian version of Project Gutenberg called Fadedpage. While Canadian authors are the focus of the website, there are other authors (such as Edith Wharton or Nathaniel West) where they are able to post more titles than Project Gutenberg due to different (and somewhat looser) Canadian copyright laws. I'm certainly not a copyright lawyer, and I only am vaguely aware of the impact of the revised NAFTA trade agreement on Canadian laws. Supposedly there will be harmonization of Canadian copyright (meaning that it will become more restrictive than it has been in the past), though on the positive side for consumers, supposedly the de minimis threshold (which sets the level at which duty and taxes can be leveled) will be increased from $20 (basically the lowest in the world!) to $150. Now this was all supposed to happen when the federal government adopted the revised NAFTA deal (back in early April), though it is possible that only sets the framework for a whole host of other legislative changes that are supposed to take place between now and June.* Specifically in terms of copyright, generally something that had passed out of copyright is not yanked back under it (it is grandfathered to stay in the public domain), though that specifically did not happen in the U.S. So I can't really say what the impact will be on a site like Fadedpage. I only know that they are offering a valuable service to Canadians. Given that there are still quite a few weird regional restrictions that favour Americans over Canadians, it is only fair that Canadians have a few sites that are better for them, like this one and the Naxos Classical and Jazz websites, which aren't allowed to operate if your IP address is from the States.
* I had been planning on ordering a Mosaic box set of Paul Desmond playing several live sets in Toronto (perhaps it is ironic that this has to be ordered from a US-based company...). In the past I would definitely have had it shipped to family in the States and eventually picked it up, but it is unlikely I will be travelling to the States at any point in 2020. Also, the gap between domestic and international shipping is narrowing (due to domestic shipping increasing in cost). With the exchange rate, the set will still cost more than $150 Can, but presumably the duty is only applied to the amount above the de minimis. So it may be to my advantage to hold off another month or so, just to see what actually happens with the de minimis and then place my order.
No comments:
Post a Comment