Davina DesRoches is making her mark on Canada’s copyright legislation. The work she has completed during her practicum with the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL/ABRC) proved so impressive, the organization has been distributing it through their website.
“While researching another project, I stumbled across the issue of perceptual disabilities, and my interest was immediately piqued,” said DesRoches. ” I have a younger brother who has been identified as a special needs student, and I wanted to see how copyright law assists those with perceptual disabilities.”
The report, “Postsecondary Students, Perceptual Disabilities and Copyright Reform” assesses Canada’s Copyright Act and its effect on students with perceptual disabilities – defined as those who cannot or have difficulty reading or hearing material as it is originally presented.
Her examination of the Copyright Act revealed that the legislation does allow universities to provide “academic materials in formats students require”. However these are not all-encompassing, and are remarkable more for what is not permissible.
One of the restrictions DesRoches addresses is the prohibition on the production of large-print textbooks without prior consent from publishers or Access Copyright. She argues that the law hampers accessibility for visually impaired students and is a superfluous protection of publishing copyright.
The Copyright Act also prohibits the use of sign language to transcribe films.
“It’s actually illegal to translate a cinematographic work using sign language, which is ridiculous, because sign language is nonmaterial – once you have made the sign, it’s gone!” said DesRoches.
DesRoches hopes to increase public awareness of the challenges faced by students with perceptual disabilities and will continue to lobby the government to amend the act. In the interim, her work has gained the respect of leaders in her field.
“The fact that an important national organization like CARL/ABRC is distributing her reports speaks highly of Davina’s talents as a researcher and analyst,” said Richard Nimijean, undergraduate supervisor, School of Canadian Studies. “Not only is she an excellent student; she is also a wonderful ambassador for Carleton, reminding the capital that we have many high-calibre undergraduate students.”
DesRoches is currently working under the guidance of Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law, on copyright and digitization for her next report.