Bill C-32 – Proposed Amendments to the Copyright Act

On June 2, 2010 the Minister of Industry, the Honourable Tony Clement, and the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, the Honourable James Moore, introduced Bill C-32 (also known as the Copyright Modernization Act) which proposes several amendments to the Copyright Act (the "Act"). The amendments are intended to balance the interests of users and the rights of artists while adapting the Act to the digital age.

Background

There have been several attempts at copyright reform in Canada since the country became a signatory in 1997 to the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO") Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty (together, the "WIPO Internet Treaties"). The WIPO Internet Treaties, however, have never been implemented in Canada and there have been continuing advances in Internet and digital technologies since the Act was last substantially revised in 1997. The Canadian Government's previous attempts at copyright reform,