Canada’s New Copyright Bill and Consumer Rights — What’s the Fuss?

CDs, DVDs, HDTVs, digital media players, smartphones, ringtones, and file-sharing technologies expand a consumer's ability to obtain, store and enjoy music, movies and television shows. There is no question that Canadian copyright law needs to be updated to reflect modern technologies, but debates have continued for years regarding the question of appropriate balance between consumers and copyright owners.

The Canadian government recently tabled new copyright legislation in the form of Bill C-32. Previous governments have introduced bills to modernize Canadian copyright legislation but, for various reasons, these bills have not passed legislation. Bill C-32 expands consumers' rights by codifying many "day-to-day" activities (many of which are currently technically illegal) such as: