Proposed Changes to the Canadian Copyright Act (Bill C-61)

On June 12, 2008, the Federal government introduced Bill C-61 proposing significant amendments to the Canadian Copyright Act (Act). While the government asserts that the Bill strikes a balance between the rights of consumers and creators of works, critics argue that the proposed amendments bear a remarkable resemblance to the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) and were introduced partly to assuage concerns from the US government. Many of the consumer activities currently allowed under the Act, including recording and time-shifting television broadcasts and the right to make private copies and to format-shift legally obtained works, have been retained in the proposed amendments. However, in addition to other changes, the amendments give copyright owners the power to remove or limit some of these consumer "rights". Private contract terms may take precedence over rights granted in the amended Act. For example, consumers who purchase music online will find that their ability to make private-use copies or to format-shift may be limited by the terms of their licensing agreement with a music supplier. "Technological measures" such as DRM or digital locks can also be used to restrict how a work may be used. Similar to the DMCA, the proposed amendments make illegal the contravention of technological measures used to protect a work. Cracking a digital lock, or even offering tools to do so, will become copyright infringement. A user of a personal video recorder may find that a broadcaster may apply a digital lock to the broadcast restricting the recording, by limiting the length of time the broadcast may be saved, or controlling playback (for instance, preventing the user from skipping commercials). It will be interesting to see if digital locks or other technological measures could be in built into other devices to impose copyright protection on something not traditionally protected by copyright. Changes have also been proposed to the statutory damages provisions of the Act. The proposed amendments include a limit of $500 as statutory damages for individuals who illegally download music. The further use of these files, however, can attract much higher awards of damages. The consumer-use exceptions apply only to legally obtained works. Private copying of a recording borrowed from a library or illegally downloaded from the Internet can be subject to statutory damages of up to $20,000. Many stakeholders are affected by the proposed amendments to the Act and have voiced their concerns. Because of the large number and variety of stakeholders and the timing of the Bill's introduction, Bill C-61 may not be passed before Parliament's summer recess. For the text of Bill C-61, visit: http://tinyurl.com/3pobj2 Summary by: Sue Diaz