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ARTICLE · 07 APRIL 2011

Copyright Reform Again Delayed

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On Friday, March 25, 2011, the Conservative government lost a non-confidence motion bringing the current session of Parliament to an end and setting the stage for a Spring election, called for May 2.

CanadaIntellectual Property
J. Sébastien Gittens
J. Sébastien Gittens
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On Friday, March 25, 2011, the Conservative government lost a non-confidence motion bringing the current session of Parliament to an end and setting the stage for a Spring election, called for May 2.

The government's fall signals the demise of a number of bills, including Canada's copyright reform bill, Bill C-32. Notwithstanding the extensive consultations on Bill C-32, and passing first reading, long-awaited amendments to Canada's copyright legislation are again delayed indefinitely. This will be the third time that efforts at copyright reform have failed in the past five years.

The last substantive amendments to the Copyright Act were in 1997. The way Canadians use copyrighted material has changed significantly since then. Balancing the rights of copyright owners and users in a rapidly changing digital world is difficult, however given Canada's stated desire to adhere to the WIPO Copyright Treaty, there has long been a need to address digital locks and the

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