Canada passes long-awaited copyright bill
03 July 2012
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Managing Intellectual Property
After a few failed attempts, Canada has passed a copyright bill updating laws to adapt to the digital space
Bill C-11, the Copyright Modernization Act, was given Royal Assent on June 29, making it law. The bill includes controversial provisions, such as anti-circumvention measures pertaining to so-called digital locks.
Other additions touch on notice-on-notice provisions for ISPs and the expansion of fair dealing to include education, parody or satire.
This is the first time Canada's copyright act act has been substantially changed since 1997. It is expected the new law will help to remove Canada from the US Special 301 Report, which calls out the worst offenders of IP laws.
Three previous attempts – in 2005, 2008 and 2011 -- to amend the bill failed, with last year’s Bill C-32 progressing furthest before it died with a call of a general election.