The Canadian government recently concluded a nation-wide consultation on copyright modernization. It asked Canadians five questions about the changes that should be made to the Copyright Act to best foster innovation, creativity, competition, and investment and to position Canada as a leader in the global, digital economy:

  1. How do Canada's copyright laws affect you? How should existing laws be modernized?
  2. Based on Canadian values and interests, how should copyright changes be made in order to withstand the test of time?
  3. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster innovation and creativity in Canada?
  4. What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster competition and investment in Canada?
  5. What kinds of changes would best position Canada as a leader in the global, digital economy?

Undertaken jointly by Industry Minister Tony Clement and Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore, this is the first Canadian public consultation on copyright reform since 2001.

The consultation period ran for approximately two months and provided a variety of ways for Canadians to participate. There was a consultation website that featured an active online discussion forum. Thousands of individuals and organizations submitted formal opinion letters to the government, and many of these submissions have now been posted on the website. In addition, Ministers Moore and Clement hosted a series of nine roundtable discussions with experts in the field in different regions of the country. Finally, Canadians could make submissions either live or via interactive webcast at two well-attended town halls in Montréal and Toronto.

McCarthy Tétrault Notes:

Now that the consultation period has closed, the government has stated its intention to release a first draft of the copyright reform bill in the fall. However, there have been some indications that the new bill may not surface until March. The upcoming bill would represent the government's third attempt to reform copyright law in the past four years. Bills C-60 and C-61 both died on the order paper after federal elections were called in 2005 and 2008.

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