ARTICLE · 03 JULY 2008

Canadian Government Proposes Amendments To Copyright Act

Stikeman Elliott LLP

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On the morning of June 12, 2008, Minister of Industry Jim Prentice tabled Bill C-61, “An Act to Amend the Copyright Act” (the Bill).

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Stikeman Elliott LLP

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On the morning of June 12, 2008, Minister of Industry Jim Prentice tabled Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act (the Bill). Revisions to the Copyright Act have been the focus of intensive discussions between stakeholders for a number of years and were originally scheduled to be tabled in December 2007, after the Conservative government declared a desire to improve the protection of cultural and intellectual property rights in Canada.

The "Made-in-Canada" approach, as it has been labelled by Mr. Prentice, seeks to ensure that Canada is in compliance with the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty adopted in 1996, and includes many new changes, some of which include:

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