Charting A New Direction

The situation has changed—for the latest see An Exciting New Development

Note to Readers

Having mulled over the discussion that took place in the Comments here last weekend, I have made the decision that I will no longer post a copy of the puzzle as part of the Saturday review of the Cox and Rathvon Cryptic Crossword. The review of this puzzle will henceforth take the same form as the review of the weekday The Daily Telegraph Cryptic Crossword.

My use of certain elements of the puzzle falls under the "fair dealing" provision of the Copyright Act. According to the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, "Fair dealing is an exception in the Copyright Act that allows the copying of limited portions of copyrighted material for specific purposes, provided that the use is ‘fair’. Using copyrighted material for a fair dealing purpose does not infringe copyright. In fact, it is considered a user right in Canada." (Some Key Copyright Concepts for Librarians, Academics, Students and Researchers)

An article entitled What is fair dealing and how does it relate to copyright? on the Simon Fraser University website provides further context.

"Fair dealing is a user’s right in copyright law permitting use of, or “dealing” with, a copyright protected work without permission or payment of copyright royalties. The fair dealing exception in the Copyright Act allows you to use other people’s copyright protected material for the purpose of research, private study, education, satire, parody, criticism, review or news reporting, provided that what you do with the work is ‘fair’. If your purpose is criticism, review or news reporting, you must also mention the source and author of the work for it to be fair dealing."

"Please note as well; it is important to distinguish ‘fair dealing’ from ‘fair use’. The fair use exception in U.S. copyright law is NOT the equivalent of fair dealing in Canadian law. The wording of the two exceptions is different. It is important to make sure that you consider the Canadian law and are not relying on U.S. information, which has no jurisdiction in Canada."

I think my posts clearly satisfy the purposes of education and review—and may occasionally stray into some of the other areas listed above. Furthermore, the source and authors of the work could hardly be more prominently displayed in my posts.

The only aspect of the post that I really cannot fully justify is the inclusion of the raw puzzle. This seems to fail two of the criteria for fair dealing listed on the Simon Fraser University website (Is its inclusion necessary for the end result?; Does its inclusion compete with the market of the original work?)

Alternative Sources for the Puzzle

PressReader (free to public library members)

A digital facsimile edition of the National Post is available through PressReader—along with about 7000 other newspapers and magazines from around the world. Access to PressReader is a benefit included in membership to many public libraries (both in Canada and internationally).

The PressReader edition of the National Post is identical to the E-Paper edition of the National Post available from the National Post website. In fact, I believe the National Post E-Paper is simply a "white-labelled" edition^* of the PressReader edition. As Wikipedia explains, "PressReader operates the digital editions of various newspapers and magazines on their websites and apps through a white-labeled platform called Branded Editions."

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^* an edition without the PressReader branding

For detailed instructions, see How to Access the National Post on PressReader.

PressReader paid subscription

Those without a public library membership have the option of purchasing a PressReader paid subscription. A 7-day free trial is also available.

National Post paid subscription

The puzzle is also available in the National Post E-Paper (a digital facsimile of the printed newspaper), access to which is included with all National Post subscriptions—both online and home delivery.

Note: Peter commented last weekend, "The last time I checked, the cryptic crosswords are not available in the online version." While that statement is true as far as it goes, a subscription to the online edition also provides access to the E-Paper which does contain the puzzle.

The link to the E-Paper is found at the far right of the menu below the masthead at nationalpost.com. You will require a National Post subscription (either online or home delivery) to access this link.

This decision will undoubtedly disappoint many readers but I believe it is the right thing to do. As always, I welcome your comments.

I will return later with a review of today's Cox and Rathvon offering.

Signing off for the moment — Falcon