- Access Copyright's farcical Captain Copyright has been flammed out of existence, deleted by a huge flood of online outrage.
The corporate 'Super Hero' starred in what was presented as an educational comic. But, “While my first reaction to the site was that it is just silly, as I dug deeper, I now find it shameful,” said University of Ottawa Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law Dr Michael Geist.
“These materials, targeting kids as young as six years old, misrepresent many issues and proposes classroom activities that are offensive.”
And, “AC ... publicly admitted that much of the torrent of criticism concerning CaptainCopyright has been justified, that some of what the Captain says is simply wrong, and that steps are being taken to redress this,” says copyright lawyer Howard Knopf more recently.
“Personally, I think that the most positive step by far would be capital punishment. It’s not complicated - just hit the delete key for the website.”
Now, “Captain Copyright Site Under Construction,” says the site, continuing:
The Captain Copyright website and materials are undergoing a revision. The site was launched as a pilot project earlier this year and it is now time to take the feedback it has received and make the revisions needed to ensure this is the best possible tool for educators and their students. Thank you to all of the educators who have already used the materials and provided their positive feedback to us – we’re working hard to make these tools even better for you and are looking forward to re-launching the site.
Thank you also to those who had more critical feedback: we heard you. We have secured a number of subject matter experts and educators to serve on an advisory panel to review and revise the existing Captain Copyright materials, as well as assist with the creation of new materials focusing on topics such as the Creative Commons, fair dealing, and the public domain. A complete list of their names and credentials will be released once it is finalized.
The Captain Copyright site was created for educators because they told us through surveys and focus groups conducted by an independent consultant that they needed tools to help them teach their students about copyright, but none were available. The tools on the Captain Copyright site will meet their needs and ensure that they can offer their students a complete and balanced understanding of copyright.
