Summary
On June 23, 2022, Royal Assent was granted to Bill
C-191, an omnibus bill that implements significant
amendments to the Canadian Copyright Act (the
"Act"). In particular, the legislative
amendments, once proclaimed into law, will increase the current
term of copyright protection in Canada from "life plus
fifty" – life of the author, to the end of the calendar
year of the death of the author, plus fifty years – to
"life plus seventy" – life of the author, to the
end of the calendar year of the death of the author, plus seventy
years. The new expansion of copyright protection in Canada will
apply to all literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works.
Background
Bill C-19 is designed to implement Canada's commitment in
the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement
("CUSMA")2 to extend its
basic term of copyright protection for works to life plus seventy,
which is the same term of copyright protection as in the United
States and the European Union. CUSMA
