Proposed Amendments to the Canadian Copyright Act

On June 2, the government of Canada introduced Bill C-32 to amend the Copyright Act.

The amendments would result in substantial changes to the current Act. This paper briefly highlights the proposed changes.¹

INCORPORATION INTO CANADIAN LAW OF THE WIPO TREATIES

Bill C-32's summary provides that one of the objectives of the amendments is to incorporate into Canadian domestic law the WIPO Copyright Treaty ("WCT") and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty ("WPPT") which were signed by Canada in December 1997 but were never ratified.

Distribution Right

Bill C-32 proposes to introduce a right of distribution (s. 4). This would mean that authors of works that can be put into circulation as a tangible object, as well as performers and makers of sound recordings, would enjoy the right to sell or transfer ownership of the tangible object, as long as such transfer has never been previously authorized by them. This right would imply that any further transfer of