Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Bill Revived In Parliament

In June 2015, the previous Conservative government tabled legislation to implement the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled. However the bill was introduced shortly before the summer break and, as it turned out, Parliament was dissolved before the legislature returned.

On March 24, 2016, the new Liberal government tabled a substantially identical bill, now known as C-11.

As was the case for its predecessor, the bill broadens the existing exception in section 32, including by removing the exclusion of large print books and by expressly addressing distribution of, or providing access to, the accessible works. It also includes changes to section 32.01 dealing with export of accessible works and section 41.16, to permit the circumvention of technological protection measures in order to exercise the exceptions set out in sections 32 and 32.01.