The Canadian Bar Association Copyright Submission on Bill C-32 (now C-11) - Some Useful Links

(Mussorgsky/Stokowski/Disney - 1940)

There has been a lot of discussion in recent days about the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) Submission on Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act from February, 2011. That bill is the same as Bill C-11, which is now heading into the homes stretch in Parliament. “Some of the top” copyright lawyers in Canada" have signed a letter to the CBA circulated by Claude Brunet and Casey Chisick, demanding that it “publicly withdraw” this document, launch an investigation, etc. The list of signatories (see below) is as interesting for who it does not include as it is for who it does.

The CBA, at all levels up to and including its President, have unequivocally continued to support and express confidence in the submission, the process that led to it, and those involved with producing it. Michael Geist’s name has been mentioned very frequently in the recent discussions and mine a couple of times. For the convenience of those interested, below are links to the most useful recent documents in this saga, beginning with the CBA Submission itself.  

With all of the attention the CBA copyright policy submission has been getting, readers may wish to read it carefully and decide for themselves whether it contains useful points to include in last minute submissions to Members of Parliament and Ministers as the Clause by Clause process on Bill C-11 (identical to Bill C-32) begins. Readers may even wish to bring it to the attention once again of Members of Parliament and Ministers, if they believe this would be helpful.

So – without any further comment:

• CBA Submission on Bill C-32, Copyright Modernization Act February, 2011
• Letter from Claude Brunet, Casey Chisick, Dan Glover, Barry Sookman, et al to CBA February 21, 2012
• Letter of CBA President Trinda Ernst, Q.C. to Claude Brunet and Casey Chisick March 1, 2012
• National Post Article by Drew Hasselback March 7, 2012
• Comment by Terence Corcoran, Editor of Financial Post March8, 2012
• Michael Geist Counterpoint “Music lobby smears CBA paper”March 8, 2012
• Letter from CBA President Trinda Ernst, Q.C., March 9, 2012
• Message from Andrew Bernstein March 9, 2012
• Update by Drew Hasselback, Financial Post, March 9, 2011

Here, once again, is a handy list of the responsible Ministers (the Minister of Industry, Christian Paradis, and the Minister of Canadian Heritage, James Moore) and the C-11 Committee members and Clerk of the Committee, at email addresses provided below:     

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected]   

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

[email protected] 

HPK


PS - if you wish to make your views known concerning any of the above at this time to those in Parliament who can do something about fair dealing, email the following. You should be able to cut and paste this list directly into most email clients:

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], T[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], G[email protected], [email protected]

Canadian Bar Association ("CBA") Brief on Bill C-32 Now Available

The Canadian Bar Association ("CBA") National Intellectual Property & National Privacy and Access Law Sections Canadian Bar Association has released its brief on Bill C-32, available here.

Its format seeks to balance the views of owners/creators on the one hand and users on the other, and to indicate where there is some common ground. It uses charts to set forth a summary of the competing views on the key issues. There is also some extensive discussion.

It begins as follows and is well worth reading:

Copyright is a controversial subject, which engages the interests of a wide cross-section of Canadians. The copyright bar, similarly, holds a multiplicity of perspectives on copyright. Because of the diversity of perspectives, the CBA Intellectual Property Section and Privacy and Access Law Section (CBA Sections) have chosen, in their submission, to summarize the legal contours of the various policy perspectives on copyright, to assist Parliamentarians in their study of Bill C-32. The goal of any new copyright legislation must be to strike the appropriate balance in the rights of all parties, while recognizing the value of the intellectual property in copyright. 

In reviewing Bill C-32, the CBA Sections assembled a working group of CBA members with expertise in copyright law and privacy law to develop the submission (the Working Group). The Working Group was often unable to agree upon an assessment of specific provisions from a policy perspective. Therefore, in lieu of specific recommendations, it adopted a format wherein it identified potential issues with each provision, noted the diversity of perspectives with respect to these issues, and developed a chart summarizing relevant commentary from creators/owners’ and users’ perspectives.

The Working Group produced commentary under the headings: Technological Protection Measures, Exceptions to Copyright Infringement, ISP and Search Engine Liability, Making Available and Distribution Rights, and Statutory Damages, and ends each section with the aforementioned chart.

HK