On June 12, 2008 the government of Canada introduced legislation to amend the Copyright Act. Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act, seeks to balance the rights of creators with the interests of consumers by extending copyright protection to works made available over the Internet and establishing new exceptions to benefit consumers and educational institutions.

The principal features of Bill C-61 are:

  • Circumventing technological measures that restrict access to works or control copying of works will be prohibited.

  • The manufacture, provision, offering for sale or rental, and distribution of circumvention tools will be prohibited.

  • Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will be exempted from copyright infringement for providing Internet access, and for caching and hosting content.

  • ISPs will be obliged to forward to a subscriber a notice received from a copyright owner claiming that the subscriber has posted or is sharing infringing material.

  • Consumers will be able to lawfully copy a book, newspaper, periodical, photograph, video cassette or recorded music accessed legally onto devices they own (e.g., from a CD to an iPod) for their own private use.

  • Consumers will also be able to time shift television and radio programs.

  • Educational institutions will be able to lawfully deliver digital course materials to students and make multiple copies of works made available over the Internet subject to limited safeguards.

Bill C-61 will now proceed to second reading and committee. We anticipate that the Bill will generate extensive debate and representations by both stakeholders and members of the public.

Glen Bloom has been a partner in the Ottawa office since 1985. He practices intellectual property law and litigation, primarily copyright, trade-mark and patent matters and frequently appears before the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Trade-marks Opposition Board and the Copyright Board. 

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