The Author:
James Gannon is a lawyer at the firm McCarthy Tétrault. The views expressed here are his own.
Tag Archives: 2011 Copyright Bill
Bill C-11, “Digital Locks”, and Copyright Reform: What Kind of Business Models Do We Want to Encourage?
Posted by on February 1, 2012
Many arguments over the merits of various copyright reform policies often devolve into a debate over competing “business models”. Copyright reform opponents and abolitionists often argue that amendments to copyright law “preserve outdated business models“, while supporters of progressive reforms argue that they are in fact required to protect emerging models of digital product distribution. [...]
Canadian Hosting Provider Cites Weak Copyright Law to Attract Pirate Websites
Posted by on January 4, 2012
There has been a lot of press lately in the U.S. about their proposed IP enforcement law, the Stop Online Piracy Act (“SOPA”). As I previously noted, when creator groups were asked which websites they intended to target with SOPA’s site-blocking provisions, the groups were clear that legitimate online businesses would be unaffected by the [...]
Why the “digital lock” rules in Bill C-11 will not have any impact on fair dealing in the education community
Posted by on December 12, 2011
Technological protection measures (or “TPMs”) are technologies that protect digital media and control how consumers can use digital products that they purchase. For instance, when you buy e-books from Kobo’s online book store, a TPM controls how that e-book can be copied. The TPM allows you to make copies of the e-book between devices that [...]
5 Steps to Understanding Bill C-11 and “Digital Locks”
Posted by on November 2, 2011
Let’s clear up some of the confusion about copyright law and “digital locks”. If you’ve been reading the press lately on the federal government’s latest attempt to reform Canadian copyright law, then it’s likely you’ve read about the government’s proposed legal protection for “digital locks”. And if you’ve been wondering exactly what a “digital lock” [...]
Bill C-11, Digital Locks and TPMs: A comprehensive guide for Canadian copyright law
Posted by on September 30, 2011
Once again, it seems that the issue of TPMs (or “digital locks”) has become one of the main focus point of the new copyright bill, Bill C-11. And, once again, the reporting on the TPM provisions of Bill C-11, which like the remainder of the Bill remains unchanged from last year’s Bill C-32, is replete [...]
Copyright and privacy reform bills on Notice Paper
Posted by on September 28, 2011
Tuesday afternoon saw bills to amend both the Copyright Act and PIPEDA appear on Parliament’s Notice Paper as Government bills. It is likely both bills will have first reading on Thursday morning. It has already been announced that the copyright reform bill (Bill C-11?) will be unchanged from last Parliament’s Bill C-32. Will the privacy reform bill (Bill C-12?) [...]
Getting it Right with Cyberlockers and Safe Harbours
Posted by on August 30, 2011
Michael Robertson runs a pair of websites that are clearly designed to help users build libraries of illegally copied music files. Of course, his websites don’t fly pirate flags on the front page or openly mock content owners who ask that their works be taken down like The Pirate Bay, but expert witnesses in his website’s [...]
4 Predictions for Copyright Reform Attempt 4
Posted by on May 6, 2011
With the new majority government having been elected at the federal level earlier this week, it is perhaps not too soon to speculate what kind of movement there will be on the copyright file. The Conservative party promised in their election platform to “reintroduce and pass the Copyright Modernization Act” (i.e. former Bill C-32), so [...]
