Canada's Notice And Notice Copyright Regime In Force

Canada's notice-and-notice regime, intended to deal with online copyright infringement, has come into force as of January 2, 2015.  This new regime will govern and affect the actions of copyright owners, internet service providers (ISPs), internet hosts, search engine providers and alleged infringers in dealing with online infringement.

The regime is created through three sections of the Copyright Act—sections 41.25, 41.26 and 41.27(3). Unlike the notice-and-takedown regime in some other jurisdictions, notably the US, the notice-and-notice regime does not require intermediaries to take down allegedly infringing content, but instead only requires that notice be passed to an alleged copyright infringer.