James Gannon's IP Blog

In the weeks running up to the tabling of Bill C-32, there was a lot of speculation as to what would be contained in the Bill amending the Canadian Copyright Act. Many were expecting Bill C-32 to contain new laws that curtail the rights of users and consumers of copyright-protected works with very few exceptions. Some went so far as to call the (then unreleased) Bill “the most anti-consumer copyright bill in Canadian history”, and even attempted to denounce Heritage Minister James Moore as “the anti-exception Minister”.

Now that the text of the Bill C-32 has been released, it has been widely acknowledged that these fears were unfounded. Quite to the contrary, Bill C-32 contains a large number of new exceptions to copyright infringement and expansions of the fair dealing defense – more than were found in either Bill C-60 in 2005 or Bill C-61 in 2008 (and, possibly, more than those two Bills combined). The overall impression one gets after reading the Bill is that, as currently drafted, it is in fact very consumer and user friendly and that it allows many new uses of protected works that are currently prohibited. For those doubting the benefits of Bill C-32 to consumers, educational institutions or other users of creative works, here are the “32 Exceptions in Bill C-32″:

New exceptions under fair dealing:

1. Fair dealing exception for eduction (s.29)

2. Fair dealing exception for satire and parody (s.29)

3. Fair dealing exception for non-commercial user-generated content (e.g. YouTube mash-ups) (s.29.21)

4. Fair dealing exception for format shifting (s.29.22)

5. Fair dealing exception for time shifting (e.g. PVR) (s.29.23)

6. Fair dealing exception for making backup copies (s.29.24)

New exceptions for educational institutions:

7. Exception to allow distance education teachers to communicate works in a lesson (s.30.01(3))

8. Exception for distance education students to reproduce works in a lesson “in order to be able to listen to or view it at a more convenient time” (s.30.01(5))

9. Exception for educational institutions to use works available through the Internet (s.30.04(1))

10. Exception for educational institutions to make digital reproductions where they pay a reprographic license (s.30.02(1))

11. Exception for educational institutions to print a copy of the digital reproduction above for”educational or training purposes” (s.30.02(2))

12. Exception for damages against educational institutions who print copies of digital reproductions (s.30.02(8))

New exceptions for computer programs:

13. Exception for copying computer programs for interoperability (s.30.61)

14. Exception for copying computer programs for encryption research (s.30.62)

15. Exception for copying computer program for computer or network security (s.30.63)

New exception for technical processes:

16. General new exception for “making a reproduction of a work or other subject-matter if the reproduction forms an essential part of a technological process” (s.30.71)

New exception for online service providers (ISPs, websites, etc.):

17. Exception for “providing services related to the operation of the Internet or another digital network” (s.31.1(1))

18. Exception for caching or other “incidental acts” (s.31.1(3))

19. Exception for providing hosting space on the Internet (s.31.1(5))

20. Exception for damages against Internet search engines or “information location tools” (s.41.27)

Exception for visually impaired:

21. Exception for CNIB to send copies outside of Canada for visually impaired (s.32.01(1))

Exceptions for non-commercial copyright infringement:

22. Exception for private and non-commercial uses of commissioned photographs (s.32.2(1)(f))

23. Generally reduced statutory damages for non-commercial copyright infringement (s.38(1)(b))

24. Exception for statutory damages against circumvention of a TPM for private purposes (s.41.1(3))

Exceptions for circumvention of a Technological Protection Measure (“TPM”, or “digital lock”):

25. Exception for circumvention for law enforcement and national security (s.41.11)

26. Exception for circumvention for interoperability of computer programs (s.41.12)

27. Exception for circumvention for encryption research (s.41.13)

28. Exception for circumvention to protect personal information (s.41.14)

29. Exception for circumvention for security of computer system or network (s.41.15)

30. Exception for circumvention by or for persons with perceptual disabilities (s.41.16)

31. Exception for circumvention for broadcasting undertakings (s.41.17)

32. Exception for circumvention for radio apparatus (e.g. cell phone carrier restrictions) (s.41.18)

(in addition, the government may add new exceptions to TPM circumvention by regulation (s.41.21))