On June 29, 2012, Bill C-11 passed third reading in the Senate
and received royal assent. Although the Bill moved quickly through
the Senate after clearing the House of Commons less than two weeks
ago, copyright reform in Canada has been a long time coming. Bill
C-11 is the third copyright bill tabled by the current government -
the first two bills as well as several others introduced by
previous governments died on the order table. The current Bill,
which was re-introduced last Fall was described in
an earlier post. At the report stage, eight amendments to the Bill were passed.
Further amendments to the Bill proposed at the report
stage and in the Senate were voted down. Following royal assent,
the Bill officially became S.C. 2012 c.20. It will come into force
following an order-in-council process, which is expected to take
several months, as the regulations relating to several of the
provisions have yet to be established.
