Myra Tawfik, "For the Encouragement of Learning: The Origins of Canadian Copyright Law" (U Toronto Press, 2023)
Myra Tawfik's book\xa0For the Encouragement of Learning: The Origins of Canadian Copyright Law\xa0(U Toronto Press, 2023) addresses the contested history of copyright law in Canada, where the economic and reputational interests of authors and the commercial interests of publishers often conflict with the public interest in access to knowledge. It chronicles Canada\u2019s earliest copyright law to explain how pre-Confederation policy-makers understood copyright\u2019s normative purpose.\nUsing government and private archives and copyright registration records, Myra Tawfik demonstrates that the nineteenth-century originators of copyright law intended to promote the advancement of learning in schools by encouraging the mass production of educational material. The book reveals that copyright laws were integral features of British North American education policy and highlights the important roles played by teachers, education reformers, and politicians in the emergence and development of the laws. It also explains how policy-makers began to consider the relationship between copyright and cultural identity formation once British interference into domestic copyright affairs increased, and as Canadian Confederation neared. Using methodologies at the intersection of legal history and book history,\xa0For the Encouragement of Learning\xa0embeds the copyright legal framework within the history of Canada\u2019s book and print culture.\nJen Hoyer\xa0is Technical Services and Electronic Resources Librarian at\xa0CUNY New York City College of Technology. Jen edits for\xa0Partnership Journal\xa0and organizes with the\xa0TPS Collective. She is co-author of\xa0What Primary Sources Teach: Lessons for Every Classroom\xa0and\xa0The Social Movement Archive.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law