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What the New Copyright Law Means For You

Appeared in the Toronto Star on November 11, 2012 as What the New Copyright Law Means For You

More than a decade of debate over Canadian copyright reform came to a conclusion last week as Bill C-11, the fourth try at reform since 2005, formally took effect. While several elements of the bill still await further regulations, the biggest overhaul of Canadian copyright law in years is now largely complete.

The wholesale changes have left many Canadians wondering how the law will affect them, as they seek plain language about what they can do, what they can’t, and what consequences they could face should they run afoul of the law.

The good news is that the law now features a wide range of user-oriented provisions that legalize common activities. For example, time shifting, or the recording of television shows, is now legal under Canadian copyright after years of residing in a grey area. The law also legalizes format shifting, copying for private purposes, and the creation of backup copies. This will prove helpful for those seeking to digitize content, transfer content to portable devices, or create backups to guard against accidental deletion or data loss.

Canadians can also take greater advantage of fair dealing, which allows users to make use of excerpts or other portions of copyright works without the need for permission or payment. The scope of fair dealing has been expanded with the addition of three new purposes: education, satire, and parody.

Fair dealing now covers eight purposes (research, private study, news reporting, criticism, and review comprise the other five). When combined with the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decisions that emphasized the importance of fair dealing as users’ rights, the law now features considerable flexibility that allows Canadians to make greater use of works without prior permission or fear of liability.

The law also includes a unique user generated content provision that establishes a legal safe harbour for creators of non-commercial user generated content such as remixed music, mashup videos, or home movies with commercial music in the background. The provision is often referred to as the “YouTube exception”, though it is not limited to videos. 

The most significant new restriction involves the controversial digital lock rules that prohibit by-passing technological protections found on DVDs, software, and electronic books. There are some exceptions to this prohibition (including the ability to circumvent the digital lock to protect personal information, unlock a cellphone, or access content if the person has a perceptual disability), but these are drafted in a very restrictive manner.

What if a Canadian violates the law by copying more than is permitted under fair dealing, circumvents a digital lock, or engages in unauthorized file sharing? 

The law generally tries to target genuinely “bad actors”, while leaving individuals alone. For example, the law now includes a cap of $5,000 for all non-commercial infringement (commercial infringement can result in liability of $20,000 per infringement). The change reduces the likelihood of lawsuits against individuals for non-commercial activities, including unauthorized downloading or mistaken reliance on fair dealing.

The Canadian approach to unauthorized downloading is now centered on a “notice-and-notice” system that is likely to take effect next year. The system allows rights holders to send notifications alleging infringement to Internet providers, who must forward the notices to their subscribers. The Internet provider is not required to disclose the subscriber information nor take any further action.

Circumventing a digital lock raises different legal issues. The Canadian digital lock rules are amongst the most restrictive in the world, but they do not carry significant penalties for individuals. Under the new law, it is not an infringement to possess tools or software that can be used to circumvent digital locks and liability is limited to actual damages in non-commercial cases. As former Conservative Member of Parliament Lee Richardson noted last year, this suggests that individuals are unlikely to face legal action if they circumvent a digital lock, though larger institutions may establish policies prohibiting the practice.

Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can reached at mgeist@uottawa.ca or online at www.michaelgeist.ca.

7 Comments

  1. Good article
    Thanks for breaking down the legalese into something I can easily understand. It’s much appreciated

  2. So basically, we should not be downloading any movie torrents from isohunt.com or other torrent sites. How about torrents for TV shows for which I have a legal TV satellite subscription? Many TV shows are already available online, but watchng them as a streaming video is not always practical, especially if you are travelling and do not have an Internet connection.

  3. Who’s violating copyright?
    Will “notice-and-notice” system notify people hosting copyrighted material, people accessing (this freely available) data, or both? My understanding is that the violation is making the copyrighted material available(host/uploader); not the downloading/streaming activity. Torrents would generally not be the way to go as the system is structured to be concurrently uploading and downloading between all involved parties. This means you are uploading (in violation of copyright)or you are abusing the torrent system.

  4. Streaming Vs Downloading
    The big question is : Is it the same – ???- Some seem to think that the byte’s used to download as opposed to streaming is the same- the only difference is that you are viewing it……….

    Is this Legal?????- not matter which site you decide to view it from.

  5. Question about downloading
    What about downloading music with software to download music from Grooveshark? Is it illegal?

  6. Great
    This is the great info to share

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  7. Downloading
    So if I download a movie. I can be charged 5000 for each one downloaded?