Originally published on CyberInquirer.
In five major decisions handed down on 12 July 2012, resulting from cases heard in December 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada significantly broadened the definition of "fair dealing" under the Canadian Copyright Act.
In Alberta (Education) v. Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright), 2012 SCC 37 , the court held that the making of photocopies by teachers, hitherto determined to fall outside fair dealing, is in fact covered by the definition – the "predominant purpose" test applying to the teacher as well as the user (student) – it being to promote private research and study.
In Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v. Bell Canada, 2012 SCC 36, the court held that fair dealing covers song previews that consumers might hear before downloading digital music from online retailers.
In Entertainment Software Association v. SOCAN, 2012 SCC 34, the court disallowed royalties on top of licensing agreements for music used in films and music used in video games downloaded over the Internet. The court held that there was a categorical difference between downloaded and streamed music. Canada's top court also announced that online music stores will not have to pay royalties on song previews to publishers and songwriters: Rogers Communications Inc. v. Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, 2012 SCC 35.
Finally, the court also determined that record labels and recording artists should not be eligible for royalties from movie and TV soundtracks, as they are considered categorically different than traditional sound recording: Re: Sound v. Motion Picture Theatre Associations of Canada, 2012 SCC 38.
In related news Bill C-11, Canada's new copyright law, received royal assent last week. The Bill, which will become law at a date to be determined, is the result of more than a decade of efforts aimed at reforming Canadian copyright law and bringing it into synch with the US and EU.
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