Volume II

Issue : 11: May 27, 2004

• UK Government Indicates Privacy Legislation Unnecessary
• Ontario Court Rules Videotaped Evidence from Nanny Camera is Admissible
• The FBI Plans on Prosecuting Email Spammers Pursuant to the Can-Spam Act as Reformed Spammer Claims Compliance has been Disadvantageous for Business
• Canadian MPs Release Interim Report on Copyright Reform
• Canadian Company All Computers Seeks $500M from Intel in U.S. Patent Suit
• Canadian Government Releases Framework for Electronic Authentication
• Overstock Leads Charge against Spyware
• Australian Man Sentenced for Cross-Border Cyberstalking
• UK Watchdog Fines Six Foreign Companies for Text Spam and Scams
• Tax Court of Canada Rules that Taking Online Distance Course is not Commuting

Home > Volume II > Issue 11: May 27, 2004 > Canadian MPs Release Interim Report on Copyright Reform

Canadian MPs Release Interim Report on Copyright Reform

On May 12, 2004, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage released its Interim Report on Copyright Reform.

The Standing Committee, which launched its review of the Copyright Act in October 2003 with a view to making the Act more responsive to the challenges and opportunities presented by the Internet and digital technologies, focused on six short-term copyright issues for the purpose of this report: private copying and WIPO ratification; photographic works; Internet service providers' liability; the use of Internet material for educational purposes; technology-enhanced learning; and interlibrary loans.

Nine recommendations were made in the report, including that:

1. the Government of Canada immediately introduce legislation into the House of Commons to ratify the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), which it signed in 1997 but has not yet ratified;

2. the Copyright Act be amended to grant photographers the same authorship rights as other creators;

3. the Copyright Act be amended to make Internet service providers subject to liability for copyrighted material on their facilities, except where they are acting as true "intermediaries" without actual or constructive knowledge of the transmitted content;

4. the Copyright Act be amended to allow for extended licensing of Internet material used for educational purposes;

a regime of extended collective licensing be created to ensure that educational institutions' delivery methods for copyright protected works can be more efficiently licensed;

5. a licensing process be created to ensure orderly and efficient electronic delivery of copyright protected material to library patrons for the purpose of research or private study; and

6. a memorandum to cabinet incorporating the interim report's recommendations be ready for cabinet approval no later than August 15, 2004, and that legislation to permit ratification of the WIPO treaties be introduced in the House of Commons by November 15, 2004.

Although Canadian Heritage Minister Hélène Chalifour Scherrer announced that she intends to have legislation further to these recommendations ready for introduction in the fall, the extent to which this may be affected by the intervening federal election is uncertain.

For additional information, visit:

http://shorl.com/dibrageselena

For a copy of the report, visit:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfocomDoc/Documents/37/3/parlbus/commbus/house/reports/herirp01-e.htm