Why we must stand on guard over copyright

As a trading nation, Canadians have considerable experience with negotiating trade agreements. From the Auto Pact in the 1960s, to the U.S.—Canada Free Trade Agreement in the 1980s, we have relied on trade deals to facilitate economic growth and to encourage exports of everything from cars to forestry.

In recent months, the world has been witness to a new priority in trade discussions — copyright. Although traditionally treated by many countries as a cultural issue not subject to negotiation, stronger copyright protections are now often included at the insistence of the United States. The move toward including copyright within trade negotiations deserves close scrutiny as it has significant ramifications for national copyright policy.

Those issues are currently dealt with by the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 1996 Copyright Treaties. While several countries, most prominently the U.S., have ratified the WIPO treaties, many others, including Canada, have moved slowly to alter their copyright laws to incorporate the provisions that may be needed to become “WIPO compliant”

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