Copyright Legislation Re-Introduced by Majority Government Locks Out Most Gains

Abstract

The fourth in a series of attempts to amend Canadian copyright was introduced in Parliament in September as Bill C-11 but it is the same as Bill C-32, which died on the order paper in the spring when an election was called. For historians and educators, the bill has some significant improvements but it also contains a controversial digital lock clause, which undermines most positive changes and which the CHA opposed in its submission to the last parliament.

The Canadian Historical Association, in its submission to the Parliamentary Commission reviewing Bill C-32 last year, made the recommendation: “that penalties for circumventing of “digital locks” …be tied to infringement. The circumvention of digital locks for non-infringing purposes like research, private study, criticism, or review should not be subject to penalty. For instance, if a researcher wishes to copy and insert a clip of a film or music into his/her conference presentation from a DVD or CD and/or convert that clip into a compatible format, this should be considered fair use, falling under research.”