Bill C-11 Receives Royal Assent, Facilitating Access to Copyrighted Works for Persons with Perceptual Disabilities

Bill C-11, entitled an Act to amend the Copyright Act (access to copyrighted works or other subject-matter for persons with perceptual disabilities), received royal assent on June 22, 2016. 

Bill C-11 implements provisions of the Marrakesh Treaty, which provides for a set of copyright exceptions to facilitate the creation of accessible versions of copyrighted materials for the benefit of persons who are blind or visually impaired.  The copyright exceptions include exceptions for the reproduction, distribution and making available of copyrighted works in accessible formats. 

Bill C-11 amends the Copyright Act, by, inter alia:

• granting an exception to reproduce a literary, musical, artistic or dramatic work, other than a cinematographic work, in a format specially designed for persons with a perceptual disability;
• clarifying that providing persons with a perceptual disability with a work or other subject-matter referred to in the exception does not constitute copyright infringement, provided the work or other subject matter is not already commercially available in a format specially designed to meet the needs of the person with a perceptual disability;
• setting out a limited export regime relating to the reproduction of works and other subject-matter created for persons with perceptual disabilities; and
• amending anti-circumvention rules by allowing for the contravention of technological restrictions for the benefit of the visually impaired.

Summary by: Anna Troshchynsky