HERI Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage |
HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6 |
Comité permanent du patrimoine canadien |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
Interim Report on Copyright Reform
Ottawa, May 12, 2004 -
In a report presented today in the House of Commons, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage calls for immediate and decisive action to modernize Canadian copyright law.
“An Interim Report on Copyright Reform makes recommendations on six copyright issues that require action in the short term” explained Sarmite Bulte, M.P., (Parkdale-Highpark). “The Committee urges the Government of Canada to act swiftly on these issues. The passage into law of an amended Copyright Act that is responsive to the needs of all Canadians is of the utmost importance.”
Since October 2003, the Committee has been studying the general issue of copyright reform. Frustrated by the numerous delays that have impeded progress on this file, the Committee held a series of meetings between 21 and 29 April 2004 on the following issues: private copying and WIPO ratification; photographic works; Internet service providers liability; the use of Internet material for educational purposes; technology-enhanced learning; and, interlibrary loans. To the greatest extent possible, mixed panels of witnesses with divergent interests and backgrounds (i.e., creators, users, collective societies and intermediaries) were assembled to provide Committee members with the broadest possible range of perspectives and recommendations on the issues in question.
The report makes nine recommendations. These include:
- That legislation to permit the ratification of the two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties of 1996 be introduced in the House of Commons by 15 November 2004.
- That the Copyright Act be amended to grant photographers the same authorship rights as other creators.
- That the Copyright Act be amended to make Internet service providers subject to liability for copyrighted material, unless they are acting as true “intermediaries.”
- That the Copyright Act be amended to allow for extended licensing for Internet material used for educational purposes.
- That a regime of extended collective licensing be created to ensure that educational institutions’ delivery methods for copyright protected works can be more efficiently licensed.
- That a licensing process be created to ensure the orderly and efficiently electronic delivery of copyright material to library patrons.
“We recognize that this interim report is not an end in itself,” Ms. Bulte concluded. “Future meetings of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage will study and make recommendations on the many remaining unresolved short-, medium- and long-term copyright issues that are in pressing need of examination. We look forward to working in partnership with copyright industry stakeholders and the federal government to ensure that all necessary legislative changes to the Copyright Act are made in the near future.”
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