Statutory Damages For Copyright Infringement On The Internet

Canada's statutory damages regime for copyright infringement was enacted to bring greater certainty with respect to the infringement of relatively low value works, to reduce the cost of litigation and facilitate settlement, among other reasons. However, in the internet context, the courts have been loath not to use the usual approach to making a monetary award, limiting the benefits of the statutory damages regime.

For each work infringed in the commercial context, Canada's Copyright Act provides for statutory damages of $500 to $20,000. Where the infringer was not aware and had no reasonable grounds to believe that it had infringed copyright, the lower end of this range goes down to $200 per work infringed. Unlike in the United States, to make a claim for statutory damages an owner need not have registered its copyrights.