CCA Bulletin 20/08
June 20 , 2008
Bill C-61 - The Devil is in the Details:
Revisions to the Copyright Act Finally Unveiled
Background
On June 12, 2008, the Minister of Industry, the Hon Jim Prentice and the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Hon. Josée Verner, tabled proposed revisions to the Canadian Copyright Act.
Bill C-61 is the first major revision to the Copyright Act since the ‘90s. The motivation for reform comes from two sources,
- Unrelenting pressure from the United States and the mass media interests who regard Canadian copyright law as harmful to their economic interests. (This despite the fact that the World Economic Forum rates Canadian copyright law as being superior to American legislation.)
Revisions to the Copyright Act have always generated a lively debate between the interests of creators, copyright owners and user communities. This is why Bill C-61 is expected to be one of the most contentious pieces of legislation seen in a long time.
While the Ministers asserted that the proposed revisions represent a win-win for both users and copyright owners, the debate around this legislation will be a prolonged and heated one as seen by the reactions of the various stakeholders. Many regard Bill C-61 as an attempt to emulate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the United States which weighs heavily towards the interests of producers and manufacturers to the purported detriment of average users of common place technologies such as DVDs, i-pods, CDs and other technologies.
Given the fact that the summer recess of Parliament is days away, serious work on this legislation by Parliamentarians is not expected to get underway until Fall. A rumour that the Prime Minister plans to prorogue Parliament may mean that the study of the proposed legislation may be pushed even farther back.
The CCA will be studying this legislation in close consultation with our members and partners. The legislation is complex, as are the implications for creators, copyright owners and average Canadians. Once this is accomplished, the Board of the CCA will deliberate both the content and strategies related to this important legislative process.
The CCA has always adopted a droit d’auteur approach to Copyright policy and the Board of the CCA has affirmed that this is the position it will take forward during the forthcoming debates on the proposed legislation.
Just the Facts
In the Summary of the Bill, the Government positions copyright and the proposed revisions in the following way:
“Whereas the Copyright Act is an important marketplace framework law and cultural policy instrument that, through clear, predictable and fair rules, supports creativity and innovation and affects many sectors of the knowledge economy,
Whereas the Government of Canada is committed to enhancing the protection of copyright works or other subject-matter, including through the recognition of technological measures, in a manner that promotes culture and innovation, competition and investment in the Canadian economy;
Whereas advancements in and convergence of the information and communications technologies that link communities around the world present opportunities and challenges that are global in scope for the creation and use of copyright works or other subject-matter.”
The legislation is intended to;
(a) update the rights and protections of copyright owners to better address the Internet, in line with international standards;
(b) clarify the liability of Internet service providers;
(c) permit certain uses for educational and research purposes of Internet and other digital technologies to facilitate technology-enhanced learning, inter-library loans, the delivery of educational material and access to publicly available material on the Internet;
(d) permit certain uses of copyright material for private purposes; and
(e) amend provisions of the Act relating to photographs to give photographers the same rights as other creators.”
Tell Me More
For background information of the copyright file, please consult CCA’s website. If you have specific views on C-61 that you would like to share with the CCA please contact us – every opinion needs to be aired during this debate.
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