COPYRIGHT

Introduction

As a student, if you have ever bought a coursepack, made a photocopy of an academic source, or used an interlibrary loan, you have been affected by the Copyright Act.

Although the legislation can be quite complex, the purpose of the Copyright Act is straight forward: to balance the interests of owners and users of copyrighted material.

The Act provides owners (who aren't always the creators) certain rights about how copyrighted material is used and copied. Equally as important, the Act also provides rights for users, including limited rights to make copies without permission through exceptions, called "fair dealing".

Fair Dealing

Fair dealing is the fundamental right to, in certain circumstances, access and use part or all of a work without permission or payment. More specifically, the Act provides that fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study does not infringe copyright. If certain attribution requirements are met, fair dealing also applies to criticism, review, and news reporting.

A 2004 Supreme Court of Canada ruling confirmed that the purpose of the Copyright Act is to serve the public interest by encouraging BOTH the creation and use of works. The existing Copyright Act includes a fair dealing provision that allows for single copies to be made of portions of work for research and private study. However, the Canadian version of "fair dealing" remains inferior to those of many other nations, including the American "fair use" clause.

Bill C-61: A close call for students' rights

On June 12, without any public consultations, the federal government introduced Bill C-61, An Act to amend the Copyright Act. Instead of expanding on fair dealing to benefit the educational community, Bill C-61 sets Fair Dealing aside entirely, and introduces even more restrictive protections for copyright owners (most often large American corporations). The bill also eliminates the federal government's role in balancing the rights of creators, owners, and users, and instead provides copyright owners with complete control to determine what, if any rights users should have when accessing copyrighted works.

Bill C-61 died when the 2008 federal election was called, but it is assured that new amendments to the Copyright Act will be presented during this session of Parliament. Students can use this federal by-election to be vocal about the need for full public consultations before the re-introduction of a new bill.