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.”

On Wednesday, February 12, 2020, the Copyright Board sent out a Notice by email (the Notice has not yet appeared on the Board’s website) correcting an error made in its decision from December 6, 2019 regarding the approval of Access Copyright’s higher education tariffs. This is the second Notice correcting errors in the Board’s decision in this case. The Board had previously issued an Erratum after realizing that an error in calculating interest on the licence fees would have resulted, unintentionally, in doubling these amounts.

On Dec 4, I appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, as part of the statutory review of the Copyright Act and its study on remuneration models for artists and creative industries. Here is my written testimony: Good morning. My name is Ariel Katz. I am a law professor at the University of Toronto, where I hold the Innovation Chair Electronic Commerce. I am grateful for the opportunity to appear before you today. In my comments today, I would like to focus on some of the ways in which copyright contributes to or detract from the …

Statutory Review of the Copyright Act: My Testimony Before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Read more »

On Dec 3, I appeared before the House of Common’s Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, as part of the statutory review of the Copyright Act. Here is my written testimony: Good afternoon. My name is Ariel Katz. I am a law professor at the University of Toronto, where I hold the Innovation Chair Electronic Commerce. I am grateful for the opportunity to appear before you today. In my comments today, I would like to focus on dispelling some of the misinformation about the application of copyright law and fair dealing in the educational sector.