Parliament Passes Internet Retransmission Bill

On June 18th, the Canadian House of Commons passed legislation (Bill C-48) that would require Internet retransmitters to obtain a licence when retransmitting copyrighted material over the Internet. This bill seems to be the government's reaction to the recent case of Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v. Canadian Assn. of Internet Providers (SOCAN), where the Federal Court of Appeal considered the issue of retransmitting copyrighted material over the Internet in detail. The license requirement is viewed by many as a way of regulating companies such as JumpTV.com, which plans to retransmit TV signals over the Internet to Canadian residents. View a copy of Bill C-48 View a copy of the Court of Appeal's decision in SOCAN View a summary of SOCAN prepared by DWW associate, Peter Wang