After a longstanding rejection of copyright term extension beyond the international law standard of life of the author plus 50 years, the Canadian government caved to pressure from the United States and agreed, in Article 20.62 of the Canada-US-Mexico Trade Agreement (CUSMA), to extend the term of copyright to life of the author plus 70 years. Canada negotiated a 30 month transition period to allow for consultation on how to implement that commitment.

It’s Fair Dealing and Fair Use Week. I didn’t initially plan to write anything but Meera Nair’s excellent post on fair dealing misrepresentations prompted me to add a few points. Meera’s post describes how sixteen years after CCH v LSUC and “[d]espite the continued development of fair dealing by our Courts …, and Parliament’s continuing support for use and expansion of exceptions, fair dealing is even further from a solid footing in Canada’s university sector.”