Captain Copyright Targets Kids

frank249 writes "The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency has set up a copyright education website called Captain Copyright. There is a section for kids with comic books and a section for teachers for grades 1-3, 3-6 and 6-8. An example of a grade 1 class activity: 'Present the following situation to students: Your friend is downloading a song off the Internet. In comes Captain Copyright. Ask: What do you think Captain Copyright will say? Encourage students to brainstorm. Then hand out (or read) Line Master: Some Copyright Laws.' In Canadian law it is incorrect to download a song unless you pay for it. They also neglect to mention that Canadians pay a tax on blank media that is meant to compensate artists for downloads."

For the kids.

[grub]

We have a daughter due in July (really! I'm reproducing now...) In a few years I imagine she'll ask "Daddy... who's Captain Copyright?" and I'll say "Sweetie, he's like God." She'll reply "What do you mean, Daddy, all knowing, all powerful and something to be in awe of?" "No dear," I'll reply, "a make-believe thing people in power use against the masses to keep them scared."

Re:For the kids.

[Tackhead]

> In a few years I imagine she'll ask "Daddy... who's Captain Copyright?" and I'll say "Sweetie, he's like God." She'll reply "What do you mean, Daddy, all knowing, all powerful and something to be in awe of?" "No dear," I'll reply, "a make-believe thing people in power use against the masses to keep them scared."

Close, but no cigar.

"Captain Copyright? I remember that site! It was where a bunch of Farkers and SA Forum Goons downloaded a huge library of source images [captaincopyright.ca] for the funniest set Photoshop parodies ever!"

Re:For the kids.

[ShieldW0lf]

I know how to deal with this. We need to get the feminists on board.

First, we explain how the internet makes culture and information plentiful goods, and how if the government didn't criminalize sharing it, market forces would in short order make them freely available to everyone in as much abundance as they wished.

Then we explain how the whole copyright thing is a conspiracy by a bunch of Rich White Men to tie access to culture, education and information to earning power as a covert way of keeping it away from women, who have less earning power. (Don't worry if that last bit is true or not, they'll accept it.)

Then we can just sit back, watch the fireworks, and in no time copyright will be toast.

(Just don't let the chinese hear this logic, or they might start enforcing copyright over there)

Re:For the kids.

[NemosomeN]

Cue marvel lawsuit in three, two....
Ironic tag.... /Sometimes I read Fark //Got a problem with that? ///Slashy slash

Re:For the kids.

[ceoyoyo]

Yet another reason to keep your kids out of the public schools.

I think you've misunderstood. "Captain Copyright" is a character on a CRIA website. He has nothing to do with public schools. Actually, I think it's pretty unlikely he'd show up in a public school. We try to leave the special interests and religious education in the private and separate schools.

Re:For the kids.

[pnatural]

look at how people use god and religeon. If you do not see how it is used for control, from countries to families, you are blind, deaf and in denial.

and you should look at how other people, not under the influences you cite, experience God and religion. if you do see how it enriches, sustains, and gives hope, you're just stereotyping, which is merely intellectual laziness.

Re:For the kids.

[Lord Ender]

If people put as much energy into reaching their goals as they put into religion, perhaps the reality of their lives would be good enough that they don't need fantasy.

Of course, I don't mean to call your religion fantasy. Yours is the right one, and everyone else in the world worships a fantasy. We both agree on that.

Kids learn about God and science in different ways

[Dr. Manhattan]

Every threaten to punish a child if the question a belief?

It turns out kids notice [livescience.com] that nobody says "I believe germs exist" or "I believe in gravity", but people do say "I believe in God". And so kids are much less sure about God existing. (Nobody gets punished for not believing in atoms.)

I only wish more parents would realize that about their "beliefs", and think about it.

Re:No I am NOT sterotyping

[AusIV]

Yes, you are definitely stereotyping. I'm an agnostic. I don't go to church anymore, but I went when I was growing up and almost nothing you mention appeared in my church.

I was never told not to do something simply because it was against god's will. During my confirmation, I asked my preacher why the church had a problem with pornography (in context with the lesson) and he gave me a very logical answer. He didn't punish me for questioning the beliefs of the church, and he didn't answer with "Because god says so." He was trying to help me understand with hopes that I might be a more considerate, caring person when I entered adulthood.

And what hipocrasy do you speak of? I really didn't see much at my church. People interpreted what the bible said into logical advice. It gives perspective to issues people might otherwise struggle with.

I'm not sure what you're next point is supposed to mean.

Yes, their are leaders who use religion to brainwash their followers. There are also leaders who wrap themselves in the American flag and call anyone who disagrees with them unpatriotic. This doesn't mean anyone who considers themself to be patriotic agrees with those leaders. Just because some leaders abuse religion does not mean religion exists solely to control people.

The church I grew up in asks only for enough to keep the church going. The minister leads a very modest lifestyle, and while I saw political discussion at my church, I never saw anyone be told who to vote for.

And my church is not alone. I've known Christians, Jews and Muslims who take advice from their religion, and I mean logical advice, not manipulative propaganda. This can help lead to enlightment, and it's certainly not just saying "it's god's will."

The blatant stereotypes you're spreading are propogated because of what I believe is a loud minority. People like Fred Phelps lead others to believe that all Christians hate homosexuals and non-christians, but this is simply not the case. People like Osama Bin Laden make muslims appear to be bloodthirsty and anti-american. Again, this is generally not the case.

I think religion has a lot to offer the world, and I think it's a pity that it gets abused as often as it does. Personally, I don't go to church because I find it boring. I don't necessarily believe one faith is any more "correct" than another, but I do think religion can be a valuable asset to a person as they mature and grow, and as a result, it can help make the world a better place.

And to think, I read into the comments on this article because I was intrigued by the fact Canadians pay a tax on blank media to help compensate artists.

Re:No I am NOT sterotyping

[diablomonic]

First off, I would like to say that I respect Jesus Christ the man, because as far as we can tell, he said some very intelligent and kind things and taught a tolerance and wisdom I would have thought very out of place in the times (could be wrong, I dont live then.), and was willing to risk everything to do so, without hurting other people in the process

with that in mind, I am not at all religeous, but still have strong moral values, obtained as follows:

- there is no god, natural rights or universal truth

Re:OK ... reproducing?

[vought]

Captain Copyright

PADUCAH, KY, AP Wire -

Captain Copyright was arrested today but Federal Authorities on counterfeiting charges. In an ironic turn of events, the former crusader for corporate intellectual property rights was caught red-handed making counterfeit $20.00 bills with a laser printer, an iron, and a hair dryer.

When asked, friends were solemn about Copyright's descent into ruin. "He was such a nice guy until the RIAA stopped sending checks", notes once close friend Hayla Bullets. "Then, he just started drinking, grumbling a lot, and working in his machine shop.

Attorneys for Mr. Copyright could not be reached for comment.

Because there's nothing better they can be doing

[C0R1D4N]

I can see that copyright law is clearly a priority for early education. Not grammar, or mathematics, but intellectual property and coporate interests. I guess all the top execs of the tobacco companies jumped ship to the recording industry so they can keep practicing their "hook 'em while they're young" campaigns.

Re:Because there's nothing better they can be doin

[Roody Blashes]

Not grammar, or mathematics, but intellectual property and coporate interests.

I concur with your post.

Re:Because there's nothing better they can be doin

[jmulvey]

I can see that copyright law is clearly a priority for early education. Not grammar, or mathematics, but intellectual property and coporate interests. And apparently not even spelling. Check out the last box of this cartoon [captaincopyright.ca]. What, exactly, is "resrearch"?

I for one fully support this campaign

[rsilvergun]

as a kid, the best sure-fire way to get me interested in doing something was to make an 'edutainment' comic book against it. I mean, jesus, this crap's down there with Johnny Turbo!

You know in hindsight

[rsilvergun]

I take my comment back. This is brilliant. Sure, it makes kids want to violate copyright, but it makes it seem like an incontrovertible law. Like Jaywalking or something. I say bravo to Canada's version of the RIAA. I wish I could be that spineless and evil, I'd be rich and powerful already.

Re:Because there's nothing better they can be doin

[Firehed]

I suppose the difference here is that cigarettes cause cancer, while the recording industry's actions are a cancer.

Re:It's in the National Interest

[mOdQuArK!]

"intellectual property" is a critical industry to the US economy

It's only critical in that its current form & implementation will ensure that the U.S. is unable to compete technologically & economically with other countries that have "looser" IP protection.

Re:It's in the National Interest

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't be ridiculous.

In 2005, the movie industry's total domestic revenue [boxofficemojo.com] was a bit shy of $9 billion.

Intel Corporation's revenue in the same period [google.com] was almost $39 billion.

So that's one company in one sector of the economy (albeit a big one) makes, all by itself, over four times what the entire movie industry makes.

While we're here, let's toss off some other revenue figures: IBM earned over $91 billion, Microsoft nearly $40 billion, General Motors almost two hundred billion dollars. GM lost more money last year than the movie industry earned in total (not counting expenses), and barely noticed.

The Copyright Cartel has done an excellent job as portraying itself as a critical industry, but don't be fooled. They are, at best, a miniscule piece of the American economy.

Software is somewhat of a different story, but they have their own ridiculousness (BSA), and you'll notice that of the companies cited, only one of them makes most of their money because of software copyrights.

Re:It's in the National Interest

[sn00ker]

What the **AA is right about is that "intellectual property" is a critical industry to the US economy... I don't have numbers, but it is probably the most profitable sector as America continues to fall behind making quality electronics, cars, etc.

You really should've checked up on the numbers, before you looked like a total idiot.
Microsoft is the largest "soft" IP company (that is, they aren't known for making tangibles), and it's half the size of IBM. Microsoft is also roughly four times the size of the entire Hollywood movie industry. It's half the size of IBM, which in turn is: half the size of General Motors; a third the size of WalMart; a quarter the size of ExxonMobil.

The xxAA side of the entertainment industry could curl up and die tomorrow and the US economy would barely notice. The music and movie industries combined (roughly USD21b in 2004) don't equate to Sun and Apple together, never mind the dozens of individual companies that turn over many multiples of that figure.

Not gonna fly

[Umbral Blot]

Must. Restrain. Laughter. I think even small children are smart enough to realize that "Captain Copyright" is an idiotic idea. Kids don't respect educational cartoon role models in general; I see no reason why "Captain Copyright" will be any different. A generic super-hero with boring powers whose opponents are ordinary people instead of super-villains ... no one is going to find that interesting.

Obligatory "second opinion" ;-)

[D4C5CE]

To be given equal time and consideration in class... [whatacrappypresent.com]

Re:Not gonna fly

[TheSpoom]

I think kids will see this the same as they saw Captain Planet [wikipedia.org]: lame. This won't even have the TV show going for it, AND the fact that anything being pushed to them by teachers is automatically uncool.

Re:Not gonna fly

[pete-classic]

Excuse me, but the term "Super-hero" is jointly trademarked by Marvel and DC.

I only wish I were kidding. According to Wikipedia they are U.S. Trademark Serial Nos. 72243225 and 73222079 [wikipedia.org]. (And believe me when I tell you I scoured the site for any use of the term. No dice. They may be dead-ass wrong, but I admire their consistency.)

-Peter

The answer is obviously

[phorm]

d) Report your friend to the police, collect a bonus check from the RIAA, and watch him spend the rest of his life paying off $1,000,000 in RIAA lawsuits.


OK, so maybe it won't quite be worded that way, but probably something along those lines. Do we really need the RIAA et al creating comic books that encourage kids to report on their friends? What's next, reporting that your neighbour is possibly harbouring an arabic man in his attic (substitute arabic for jewish and step back about half a century, you'

Much Better Answer

[Mateo_LeFou]

Captain Copyright will say 'Creative Commons [creativecommons.org]? Wow! I have the same initials as those guys. Have fun downloading, listening to, burning, sharing, and basically doing whatever you want with that music.'

Infringement...

[talkingpaperclip]

Are these guys sure that "Captain Copyright" doesn't infringe on the "Captain Planet" copyright?

Re:Infringement...

[delirium of disorder]

Are these guys sure that "Captain Copyright" doesn't infringe on the "Captain Planet" copyright?

You can't hold a copyright on a two word phrase. This would fall under trademark law, not copyright law.

Re:Infringement...

[biglig2]

Over on Boing Boing, they've noticed that the Captain Copyright web page has stolen a couple of sections from Wikipedia without including the required attributions. http://www.boingboing.net/2006/06/02/captain_copyr ight_wi.html [boingboing.net]

But never mind the hypocracy - what kind of teacher uses materials in class that did not come from an independant source? Don't they have pride in their profession? Ahem - won't somebody think of the children?

Re:Infringement...

[the eric conspiracy]

It would be pretty embareassing for Captain Copyright to be sued for copyright infringement. I think we should have an email campaign to whatever identifiable email address is available pointing out some of these issues.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Obligatory VGCATS reference

[Spy der Mann]

It's not captain planet but...

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=164 [vgcats.com]

Re:Infringement...

[bersl2]

Well, it doesn't all quite fit the theme of copyright. But it's something. [arstechnica.com]

If it were "Captain IP", then you'd have

• Copyright
• Patent
• Trademark
• Industrial Design
• Trade Secret

Go IP!

This guy's pre-superhero name wouldn't be

[jthill]

Lei Feng, would it?

Copyright may be an important principle....

[fussili]

but that's no excuse for creating a comic that [i]blows[/i] so profoundly.

Seriously, read "the story of Captain Copyright" in the "for kids" section of the website.

What kind of kid is going to enjoy that pile of crap?

"Education!=indoctrination"

[D4C5CE]

This, if anything, is all that "Captain Copyright" ought to say in a place called school (digne de ce nom).

All Your Kids Belong to Us!

[Nom du Keyboard]

The propaganda is getting blatant. It least this one is not my tax dollars at work. Maybe there's a reason the almighty Canadian dollar coin is referred to as the loonie.

Blatant?

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

This is quality work compared to Christian cartoons [chick.com].

I don't condone or support piracy at all....

[linguae]

...but this comic is lame. Look at this page [captaincopyright.ca] and the previous one. Somebody gets an A just because they didn't use a bootleg version of the textbook? Give me a break.

There is also another page [captaincopyright.ca] in the copyright comic that seems to confuse one issue (collaborate research and somebody trying to take all of the credit) with copyright law. The comic ended in a cliffhanger after a few pages, but I don't think this comic book is effective at all (not to mention lame), and the comic confuses issues, too.

Re:I don't condone or support piracy at all....

[CosmeticLobotamy]

"Word got around that the copied textbooks weren't such a great deal after all and by the end of the semester the store that sold them was out of business."

Where's the little picture of Captain Copyright standing outside the burnt-out building with a gas can?

Re:I don't condone or support piracy at all....

[NOLAChief]

Gotta love the "hero shot." [captaincopyright.ca] Captain Copyright dedicates his life to defending the rights of artists and everyone in between. Hey, at least he's honest.

Re:I don't condone or support piracy at all....

[Rob_Warwick]

My favorite part was where the guy suggests calling a lawyer about what's happened, and they decide to go the Copyright Vigilante root instead.

Re:I don't condone or support piracy at all....

[wkitchen]

... and the comic confuses issues, too.

I think that's the primary purpose of it.

Private corporations dictating what's taught.

[Bamafan77]

Since it seems private corporations are now controlling school curriculums, why can't we get some cooler corporate interests involved? Where's Seargent Funbags from Playboy and Corporal Barley from Coors? Let's at least create some drones who know how to have a good time! Is that too much to ask? :)

Re:Private corporations dictating what's taught.

[sconeu]

Oh Yeah!!!!

Logo faux-pas

[Beniamino]

Boing Boing helpfully points out [boingboing.net] (SFW) the similarity between the Captain Copyright logo and Slashdot regular goatse.cx (which I will not link).

Re:Logo faux-pas

[thelost]

does anyone else think that the logo similarity to the gaper is not accidental? I know if I was a bored illustrator/designer sitting around having to do asinine sites like captain copyright I would be tempted to add little extras like that.

not to compensate for downloads

[nlago]

I definitely may be wrong here (never been even close to Canada), but I believe the tax on blank media came out long before music downloads appeared in the radar. Sure, the tax is supposed to compensate for informal, personal copying, by providing some extra revenue to the artists (yeah, right, to the artists... mostly... somewhat... err...). However, I doubt the letter of the law mentions "downloading", which (in this "interesting" world we live in) may make quite a difference.

Re:not to compensate for downloads

[cnettel]

If it's anything like the tax in most European countries, it goes hand in hand with the regulation to allow personal copying (including sharing with friends) of songs (note: not software) you have a valid copy of yourself. A result of this is that this copying should at least approximately correspond to the actual sales, while it's quite obvious that downloads can vary far more, and it would therefore be far harder to create a distribution plan that would be "fair".

Funny.

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

On their website, under "kids" I looked up the meanings of some words and phrases related to copyright. Guess what's missing from the list. I'll give you a hint, it starts with "Fair" and ends with "use"

Re:Funny.

[DeeKayWon]

What with this being Canada and all, there's no reason for any two word phrase matching that description to show up. There is reason for one that starts with "Fair" and ends with "dealing" [wikipedia.org], though.

Canadian law and American law are not the same? Shocker!

In all fairness

[geekoid]

They are giving people the FU...

Re:Funny.

[mark-t]

Apparently you didn't notice it's a CANADIAN site.

The terminology is different from the US.

I thought it was legal in Canada?

[pruss]

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651, 39118537,00.htm [zdnet.co.uk]

Or has the law changed since 2003?

Re:I thought it was legal in Canada?

[Grey Ninja]

No, as far as I know, the CRIA is still completely powerless in Canada. That's why they feel they have to resort to lying to the children. ;)

Next : Canadian Govt. & RIAA publish new movie

[unity100]

Captain Copyright vs Captain Caveman

Re:Next : Canadian Govt. & RIAA publish new mo

[Cylix]

My favorite...

I am.... Captain Condom!

Infringing?

[lexDysic]

As pointed out on Boing [boingboing.net] Boing [boingboing.net], Captain Copyright is apparently blessed with the power of copyright immunity. Text on his website appears to be directly lifted from Wikipedia, and of course much of the iconography has been around since before the Captain himself. Maybe the Captain's alter ego is a pirate? Arrrrrr...

--
Think! It ain't illegal yet!
George Clinton

Re:Infringing?

[ggambett]

No, he fights pirates, so his alter ego should be a ninja.

Re:Infringing?

[chrispl]

Not to mention the goatse [captaincopyright.ca].

Blank Media Levy

[0xA]

They also neglect to mention that Canadians pay a tax on blank media that is meant to compensate artists for downloads.

This is incorrect, the blank media levy was designed to compensate artists for people copying CDs and other recordings. The "Download Question" was not seriously considered at the time the levy was introduced and it is a matter of opinion if it applies to downloads.

Re:Blank Media Levy

[mark-t]

While correct, your phraseology could be misleading.

By claiming it exists for the purpose of people copying CD's, etc, it can appear that this payment is justifying people making copies for purposes other than personal use. It is not.

That is not to say that the levy's purpose is to cover personal use copying either, however... since that was already granted under Canadian copyright law.

While indeed the levy exists to cover copying outside of personal use, it is NOT a justification of that action any

NO, it is not a "matter of opinion",

[plasmacutter]

It has been deemed legal by their lawmakers [com.com] and courts [chartattack.com] and since the laws and court decisions have not changed/been overturned to make them illegal, this is simply false.

screw these liars trying to pervert and poison the minds of impressionable youth! get it through your heads you greedy corps, it's not illegal in canada!, and the majority of the public doesn't consider it wrong where you've bought the laws making it illegal in other nations!

Captain Copyright to sue slashdot . . .

[jgaynor]

Captain Copyright has heroically announced he's suing /. for copyright violation, after the vicious plagiarizers failed to read his site's asinine legal disclaimer [captaincopyright.ca] and reproduced his valuable intellectual property. Additionally, poster jgaynor [slashdot.org] will also be sued for talking shit about captain copyright AND linking to his site in the same paragraph. Think that last sentance was hyperbole? Think again:

"permission to link is explicitly withheld from any website the contents of which may, in the opinion of the Access Copyright, be damaging or cause harm to the reputation of Access Copyright."

Holy Nutsack Cap'n Copyright!

More making fun of this ridiculous attempt at a valid legal statement here [techdirt.com] (disclaimer: not affiliated).

Re:Captain Copyright to sue slashdot . . .

[Scarletdown]

Additionally...

Specifically, permission to link is explicitly withheld from sites featuring pornographic, racist or homophobic content.

Oops. Guess that means they can't legally be indexed by Google or any other search engine then.

metainfo

[42Penguins]

Link goes to a 5.05MB PDF. Sitting there downloading, I thought it must be pretty spiffy.
Nope: 1 page black and white with about 8 lines of typing.
Maybe the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency needs a bandwidth tax, too.

For Kids?

[BAILOPAN]

ABC's of copyright [captaincopyright.ca]

Err... that's a bit too wordy for kids, who probably wouldn't be reading about copyright law in that detail anyway. Also, I cannot help but notice that there are no A's or B's.

Maybe it should have a section on how they can pirate stuff, that'd be more useful.

You know

[bigsexyjoe]

This might not be cool but that doesn't mean that stealing is.

and now the circle is complete

[Elwood P Dowd]

Q. What do you think Captain Copyright will say?

A: "You can't draw a pony! It was my idea to draw a pony!"

Copyright jackasses are marketting their kindergarten-level understanding of intellectual property to actual kindergarteners.

Fuck you. My pony is better than your stupid pony.

Re:and now the circle is complete

[Immercenary_2000]

OMG PONIES!!!!111one!!!
Sorry, couldn't resist

Incorrect to download for free?

[DragonWriter]

In Canadian law it is incorrect to download a song unless you pay for it.

Really? Its illegal to distribute songs online for free in Canada? What a sucky country.

Re:Incorrect to download for free?

[ceoyoyo]

He said "incorrect." As in, the CRIA thinks it's incorrect and would like you to as well.

OMG OMG QUIZ ANSWERS HERE1!!1!! READ INSIDE1!!!!1!

[abscissa]

Here are the answers to the Kids Quiz!!

1. You wrote a poem for class. Do you have to register it with the Copyright Board of Canada for your poem to be protected by copyright law? NO!!

2. Each province is covered by the same copyright law. True or false? TRUE!!

3. Your friend got a computer game and you want to download it to your computer. Is this something you may do? NO!! (even if it's freeware or shareware!!)

4. You framily has 3 computers in the house. When you get new software are you allowed to install

Interesting Angle

[malus]

Why is it that Captain Copyright is looking off to the left in so many of these headshots?

http://www.captaincopyright.ca/Kids/ColouringBook. aspx [captaincopyright.ca]

Hmmmm.

Excerpt from the quiz for kids

[binkzz]

"Yes - Once your poem is in a fixed and tangible form, you have copyright in your poem. You do not have to register your creation with the Copyright Board to have copyright."

I'm sure kids will learn tons with these fun quizes and games.

Torrent?

[Mooga]

So who is going to pre-release a torrent of all the Captain Copyright Comics?

frank249 I hope you typed that quote out longhand.

[Mateo_LeFou]

" iv. You are not permitted to copy or cut from any page or its HTML source code to the Windows(TM) clipboard (or equivalent on other platforms) onto any other website. " Intellectual Property Notice and Disclaimer [captaincopyright.ca]

Captain C/The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency,: Please do not sue me, but I copied and pasted the URL into the link above. If this is a violation, have the Swedish police sieze Slashdot's servers.

Copyrights Do Expire, Don't They

[buckhead_buddy]

The copyright on a number of songs first graders might still find entertaining have expired. Things like:

• Old McDonald
• I've Been Working on the Railroad
• 99 Bottles of Beverage on the Wall
• Ring Around the Rosie
• She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain
• and many, many more

Yes, the performances of the songs may be copyrighted, but even that isn't a certainty. There is a Public Domain into which the performing artist may release their performance.

If the tune, lyrics, and performance aren't protected intellectual property then the first grader should call the police and have Captain Copyright arrested for child molestation. Okay, there wasn't any sexual molestation involved, but a man in a skin tight costume who constantly barges in on first graders in their homes will have a very difficult time convincing a jury of that fact.

But is it going to be more effective than

[Goonie]

Don't Copy That Floppy [wikipedia.org] :)

As someone who actually has registered Canadian

[WillAffleckUW]

copyrights, as well as a trademark, I think this is a bad thing.

Look, why won't Captain Copyright teach them about Fair Use, or the fact that colleges, schools, and universities are exempt from many copyright restrictions, or about public copyrights?

Now, having actually travelled across Canada on a Canada Council Grant, as a playwright and author, I know where some of the money paid by the library system goes. I'm not against copyrights, but let's tell the truth, not a distorted pro-corporate version ...

[f

Compensation - not for downloads really

[FooBarBlatDing]

They also neglect to mention that Canadians pay a tax on blank media that is meant to compensate artists for downloads.

Not really. The tax is meant to cover copies made from legitimately obtained originals, as in when your friend loans you his CD or you borrow it from the library. In Canada it has been ruled that the blank media tax covers this and it's legal to copy the CD, whatever the RIAA or whomever may think. I don't think that the download case has been tested.

I agree with the previous poster

Talk about stupid superheroes!

[Pollux]

What's next? The "Condom Crusader?" ...

Oh. On second notice, I guess "Condom Crusader" came [twistedimage.com] first [twistedimage.com].

Oh dear god.

[foreverdisillusioned]

Great. Now I've got this going through my head:

"RIAA!"

"MPAA!"

"Fear!"

"Uncertainty!"

"Doubt!"

"GO COPYRIGHT!"

"By your powers combined, I AM CAPTAIN COPYRIGHT!"

Re:Oh dear god. - MOD UP PARENT - FUNNY!

[Mooga]

"Captain Copyright! He's our hero! Going to bring all our money down to ZERO..."

Captain Copyright says:

[geekoid]

00112 00456 06340 04056 00714
00945 00223 07450 00645 41700
00043 00019 00431 00077 38473
89 89

Vote early, vote often!

[Just Some Guy]

You get to vote [captaincopyright.ca] on the best way to contact Captain Copyright. I voted to:

From: root@localhost
Subject: CC Vote - Post A Torrent And Follow The RIAA

I vote to post a torrent of the paper, wait for the thugs at the RIAA to find it, then follow the hit van to their house.

A few million similar votes should get the point across.

What a waste of time...

[cleverhandle]

It's a waste of time not only for the obvious reason that kids would see right through this sort of crap as yet another wholly un-fun attempt at wrapping adult prohibitions in a cartoon package, but also for a less obvious reason. Teachers would never use it. I teach older kids myself, but I know quite a few elementary teachers and they're busy, busy people. These copyright goons seem to think that teachers have gaping holes in their classroom schedules that they're dying to fill. Hello? Accountability? Hig

blank media levy and Canadian artists

[shark72]

"They also neglect to mention that Canadians pay a tax on blank media that is meant to compensate artists for downloads."

The inaccuracy of the "...for downloads" portion has already been addressed, so I'll just point out that Slashdotters always neglect to mention that the levy goes only to Canadian artists. If you're Canadian and you're downloading music from US, Europe or elsewhere in the world, it's a misguided approach to assume that the blank media levy is compensating these artists whose work you

Let's Slashdot 'em!

[n0alpha]

I am in awe that they have a 1 page PDF that takes up 5 megs, and despite it's title that would lead you to believe it contains Canadian Copyright laws, it actually doesn't reference any laws at all! If everyone downloads the PDF even once, we can Slashdot 'em pretty quickly! http://www.captaincopyright.ca/Teachers/Docs/LMCop yrightLaws.pdf [captaincopyright.ca]

It's worse than you think

[gillbates]

From their Terms of Use page:

What you can do with the Materials: Authorization and Limited Licence Access Copyright grants you a limited, royalty-free, non-exclusive and non-transferable right and licence to view and display the Materials on your computer or network of computers within a single entity, and download and print the Materials for your own personal internal use or educational use in educational institutions located in Canada, subject to the following conditions

i. You are not permitted

What about GNU man? FairUse man?

[stunt_penguin]

Seriously guys, someone out there has to be arty enough to create GNUman, with all the powers and bodily odour of....... a GNU. He'd show kids how great it is to publish their work under the GPL, and to practice fair use, and to contribute to OS projects that make the world a better, fluffier (and cheaper) place to live in.

I am a Canadian high school student...

[lkypnk]

I've not had the displeasure of sitting through this; they aim it at the younger grades (14, 15 years old). While the website for "Captain Copyright" emphasizes intellectual property rights, the in-class indoctrination mostly talks about not plagarizing, so at least at my school, I think fairly little harm is being done.

Even better, I have heard many of my peers mocking "Captain Copyright" and many seemed quite well informed about the law concerning fair dealing and had strong opinions on why the curr

Character names

[shish]

An odd thing to spot, but I find it distracting that the bully is called Haskell (an alledgedly awesome programming language, that I've not had time to learn myself), and CC's scientist friend is called yuri (japanese for female / female reationships, often used online to mean "anime lesbian porn").

Aside from that, the comic is rather lame -- it's so overdone, even a child should be able to detect the smell of propoganda...

Based on a Fallacy

[czarangelus]

The best part is it's based on a fallacy to begin with. In the comic, the school bully comes, steals his artwork, and begins selling copies for a quarter in front of the teacher's lounge. In the case of file sharing, no money changes hands! What a bunch of horse crap.

Re:Based on a Fallacy

[swordgeek]

If you could get your head out of your ass long enough to see something beyond file sharing, you'll discover that the site is about copyright infringement!

It's shitty, deceitful, and amoral, but it's not exclusively obsessed with file sharing. Unlike you, apparently.

Re:Orwell Anyone?

[Ithika]

Or, to echo the FP's sentiments, the Jesuit saying:

Give me the child for his first seven years, and I'll give you the man.

"The tobacco industry. Oh, if only we had their numbers..."

Re:Orwell Anyone? Or Godwin???

[Nom du Keyboard]

hitler also knew that the best way to change a national mind was to start with the children...

My God! Second post, and by Godwin's Law [wikipedia.org] this discussion is already over!

Of course this begs the question of will the record companies last until these kids grow up into nice, well-controlled, consumers.

And when did 'hitler' become a lower-case adjective?

Re:Orwell Anyone? Or Godwin???

[Minwee]

"And when did 'hitler' become a lower-case adjective?"

When he failed to defend his trademark and it became generic. "Escalator", "Yo-yo", "Shredded Wheat", and now "Hitler" are prime examples of trademarks which have fallen into the public domain through abandonment or poor defense.

Where Hitler went wrong was not through lack of defense (you should have seen his army of lawyers), but through misuse of the Hitler trademark. Where Third Reich productions threw around the name Hitler as though it were a noun they should have used it as an adjective from the start and emphasized it to set it apart from the surrounding text. Using phrases like "Hitler conquered half of Europe" is just asking for trouble. "Hitler® brand World Domination conquered half of Europe" makes it clear what the brand name is and that it is a registered trademark.

Re:Orwell Anyone? Or Godwin???

[pluther]

And when did 'hitler' become a lower-case adjective?

god only knows.

Ooh! Maybe the mgt. could write that! (n/t)

[Mateo_LeFou]

hehehe. i'm clever.