Remixing Canadian copyright law: A review essay on'An Emerging Intellectual Property Paradigm','Canadian Copyright: A Citizen's Guide'; and'RiP!: A Remix Manifesto', Prometheus, Vol. 27 (3), p. 297-305

In her album, Hymns of the 49th Parallel, the chanteuse K.D. Lang pays tribute to a series of great Canadian songwriters—such as Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Jane Siberry. In a similar spirit of celebration, this review essay pays homage to a number of recent texts and films dealing with Canadian intellectual property. First, it considers Ysolde Gendreau’s collection, An Emerging Intellectual Property Paradigm: Perspectives from Canada. Second, this essay looks at Laura Murray and Samuel Trosow’s manual, Canadian Copyright: A Citizen’s Guide. Finally, this review evaluates Brett Gaylor’s documentary, RiP! A Remix Manifesto. The three works share certain affinities—a spirit of scepticism about the legitimacy and the efficacy of existing networks of law, policy and bureaucracy; a populist interest in the impact of intellectual property on the everyday lives of citizens, creators and consumers; a passion for human rights; and a melioristic desire for sensible law reform of copyright law and related regimes of intellectual property.