Fair Dealing: Have We Had Fair Use All Along? (HKU Public Lecture in IP)

I am excited and honoured to give the Hong Kong University Public Lecture in IP next Wednesday, Nov 9, 2016. The title of my lecture is “Fair Dealing: Have We Had Fair Use All Along?”

The lecture is based on this book chapter.

Abstract:
Conventional wisdom holds that while the fair use doctrine in the United States is omnipresent and flexible, fair dealing, its Commonwealth cousin is more rigid and can only apply to the specifically enumerated statutory purposes. Fair use, on this view, is an American invention—foreign to the copyright traditions of the rest of the common law world.
Reflecting on the recent Canadian experience, and exploring its relevance to Hong Kong, Professor Katz will recount the history of fair use and fair dealing. He will argue that that the distinction between a US-style open-ended fair use and fair dealing is a myth that can be laid to rest. Rather than being a foreign legal implant, embracing an open-ended fair dealing is not only possible under the current legislation, but also provides the most internally, historically, and constitutionally coherent only interpretation of the Canadian Copyright Act.

Date/Time: November 9, 2016 (Wed) from 1pm – 2pm
Location: Academic Conference Room, 11/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower, HKU

More details here.