OTTAWA – On Monday afternoon, the federal government kicked off a national consultation effort with the goal of modernizing the Copyright Act in part so that the “revenues of web giants are shared fairly with Canadian creators,” reads the press release.
This new consultation will build on the 2019 Parliamentary Review of the Copyright Act, which did not result in Act amendments. This review will involve both the departments of Canadian Heritage and Innovation, Science and Industry as both want to ensure the copyright framework “reflects the evolving digital world” when it comes to online entities.
“As the distribution and use of copyright-protected content online have expanded and the services of online intermediaries have grown and diversified, it is important to ensure that Canada’s copyright framework for online intermediaries still achieves its underlying objectives.
“The Copyright Act must adapt to ensure that the use of copyright-protected content online is protected and individual rights and freedoms in an open Internet are safeguarded, while facilitating an environment where the digital market can thrive,” explains the press release.
The government defines online intermediaries as “entities that facilitate access to online content, including copyright-protected content, which vary widely in the services they offer as well as their size (for example, Internet service providers, ‘cloud’ storage services, web hosts, social media and other public content-sharing platforms and search engines).”
Along with the announcement, the government has published a consultation paper to spur discussion and help inform submissions from Canadians which must be filed by May 31st.
The consultation paper says possible new government actions could be to:
- clarify intermediaries’ safe harbour protections against liability for copyright infringement, including how intermediaries’ knowledge of infringement and content-related activities affect their liability as well as their attendant obligations
- compel remuneration of rights holders through collective licensing of their copyright-protected content on certain platforms
- increase transparency in rights holders’ remuneration and online uses of their content
- clarify or strengthen rights holders’ enforcement tools against intermediaries, including by way of a statutory “website-blocking” and “de-indexing” regime
“Our government is committed to meaningful platform governance, including the modernization of the Broadcasting Act, a new framework for online harms, news media remuneration and copyright reform. These efforts will contribute to a healthier online environment for Canadians, creators and media. In the area of copyright, we need a more up-to-date framework to ensure more accountability and better remuneration and transparency,” reads the quote attributed to Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage.
“For Canada to have an innovative and flourishing digital economy, we must protect copyright online. With this consultation, we aim to strike the balance between facilitating broad, lawful access to copyright-protected content, and safeguarding individual rights and freedoms in an open Internet. We have launched this process to hear the diverse perspectives of stakeholders, from online intermediaries to those holding copyrights, as well as any Canadian who wants to share input, to make sure Canada maintains a balanced copyright framework,” reads the quote for François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.
In February and March, says the backgrounder, the ministers consulted on how to implement Canada’s commitment under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement to extend the general term of copyright protection and an additional consultation on a modern framework for artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things will be launched by summer 2021, too.
