Copyright Notice And Notice Regime To Come Into Force

The Government of Canada has announced that the "Notice and Notice" regime established by Bill C-11, "An Act to Amend the Copyright Act", is expected to come into force in January 2015. The amendments will provide for a mandatory notification scheme for online copyright infringement.

Once the Notice and Notice provisions come into force, an Internet intermediary, such as an Internet service provider (ISP), web hosting service, or Internet search engine, will be required to forward any notice of claimed copyright infringement to the allegedly infringing subscriber. The intermediary will also be required to alert the copyright owner once the notice has been forwarded – or to explain the reason it was not possible to forward the notice – and to retain records identifying the alleged infringer for a minimum of six months. In the event that the copyright owner brings an action against the alleged infringer, the intermediary will be required to retain these records