Canadian Copyright Bill Draws Mixed Reaction
Like others before it, Canada is finding that updating its copyright legislation from the analog to the digital environment is drawing interest—and opposition—from many quarters. If passed, a bill up for consideration before Parliament would amend the nation’s existing copyright law to address a host of issues posed by new technologies and types of use.
Content users and rightsholder groups have been lobbying legislators over this bill for more than a year. Last December, more than 35,000 opponents succeeded in delaying the bill by banding together through Fair Copyright for Canada, a Facebook group launched by University of Ottawa Professor Michael Geist.
Legislators have touted the bill as a means to bring Canada’s copyright law in line with international IP standards. But many opponents of the bill refer to it as the Canadian DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), claiming it’s the result of pressure from powerful U.S. media companies to restrict content users’ rights to access and use digital content. Proponents, such as the Canadian Publishers’ Council, say the bill is long overdue.
The Canadian bill does bear some similarity to the U.S. DMCA in that it restricts people from circumventing technology that locks down content. But it also offers an interesting twist that sets it apart. Under the DMCA, internet service providers must take down content when a rightsholder claims infringement. According to the Canadian amendment, ISPs would not be held responsible for the actions of their subscribers. No takedown required.
Those following the Google Book Search case may find the new Canadian bill particularly interesting as it tackles one of the questions at the heart of that controversy. As drafted, search engines that copy content in an effort to provide a way for people to locate information would not be held liable for damages, unless they ignore rightsholder requests to remove infringing material. This would appear to accommodate Google’s “opt-out” policy for digitizing books still in copyright.
