OTTAWA - The Government of Canada introduced, on June 12, 2008, long-overdue and much-needed amendments to the Copyright Act that will bring it in line with advances in technology and current international standards, a press release by the Canadian Ministry of Industry stated.
The proposed amendments include:
• New exceptions that will allow Canadian consumers to legally record television shows for later viewing and copy legally acquired music onto other devices, such as iPods or cell phones;
• New exceptions for some educational and research purposes;
• New rights and protections for those who create content; and
• Provisions to address the liability of Internet service providers and the role they should play in curbing copyright-infringing activities on their networks.
Four principles motivated the government in the development of the proposed changes to the Copyright Act:
• The rights of those who hold copyright must be balanced with the needs of users to access copyright works.
• The Copyright Act must provide clear, predictable and fair rules to allow Canadians to derive benefits from their creations.
• The Copyright Act should foster innovation in an effort to attract investment and high-paying jobs to Canada.
• Canada must ensure that its copyright framework for the Internet is in line with international standards.
These amendments to the Copyright Act are part of the government's broader Intellectual Property strategy, which includes the recent amendments to the Criminal Code to combat movie piracy and the announcement that Canada will work with other international trading partners towards a possible Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).