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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Canadian_copyright_law. (Discuss) |
Copyright Act of Canada is Canada's federal statute governing copyright law in Canada. The Act protects two types of rights, an artist's copy rights and moral rights. The protections given satisfy all the requirements for protection under the Berne Convention. The act also empowers the Copyright Board of Canada, which establishes the royalties to be paid for the use of copyrighted works, and licenses works when the copyright owner cannot be found.[1]
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History
The Act was first enacted in 1921 and much of the text was taken from the British Copyright Act of 1911. The act has since undergone numerous updates, including the introduction of a media levy in 1997.
Penalties
According to section 34(4) of the copyright act, specific penalties will be decided by the court. Section 35(1) states that an infringer is liable for the financial gain made through infringement, and "such damages to the owner of the copyright as the owner has suffered due to the infringement" [2]
A copyright holder can instead elect to protect his/her copyright under section 38, which allows for "a sum of not less than $500 or more than $20,000 as the court considers just." [2]
There are three categories of remedies to copyright infringement. They are Border, Civil, and Criminal. Border enables Customs to detain infringing materials at the border. Civil allows the copyright holder to take direct action against a person or company who violates his or her rights. Criminal is used when it is too costly to sue or to stop or try to dissuade people from committing the act again.
Bill C-60
In June 2005, the government introduced Bill C-60 to amend the Copyright Act. Among the major changes proposed to the Act include:
- The removal of the photographer exception allowing them to gain de facto authorship to anything they photograph.
- Extends moral rights to performers of other people's works.
- Allows for infringement of copyright by circumventing rights management schemes when it is for the purpose of violating another right.
The bill was never passed into law as Parliament was dissolved after a motion of non-confidence was passed in November 2005.
Bill C-61
In Summer 2008, the government introduced Bill C-61 in their continuing effort to update the Copyright Act, with many similarities to the previous Bill C-60 and the American DMCA. Bill C-61 was controversial and generated heated debate. It died before it passed into law when the Conservative government called an election in September 2008.
See also
References
External links
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