It was one of the much anticipated and much feared bills for digital rights activists. Now, at the last possible moment in the session of parliament, activists worst fears were realized as Jim Prentice tabled Bill C-61 which is dubbed ‘The Canadian DMCA’
The Canadian DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) got its name out of fears that the new copyright bill, which would amend the copyright act, would be modeled after the DMCA in the United States. The DMCA is very frequently pointed at for allowing the Recording Music Industry Association of America to sue thousands of American citizens and threaten thousands of college students for alleged copyright infringement.
Bill C-61 was tabled today and, as the nickname suggests, is modeled after the American DMCA. One of the major criticisms for the DMCA in Canada was the fact that the person who created the DMCA said that the DMCA was a failure. It’s now come to fruition that the Conservative party, the governing party in Canada currently, very likely ignored these criticisms and went ahead and tabled a copyright reform bill that is modeled after the DMCA anyway.
This isn’t the first time that DMCA-type legislation was tabled. Back in 2005, Bill C-60 was tabled by the Liberal party in Canada who was, back then, the governing party of Canada. Like the bill today, the copyright bill in 2005 was also modeled after the DMCA. The bill died on the order-paper when an election was called after the fall of the minority government.
There was attempts by the Conservative party to table copyright reform towards the end of 2007, but the fast growth of Fair Copyright for Canada among other things caused the party to panic and pull the legislation off the table. The movement didn’t stop there as Jim Prentice was later surrounded by protesters in his riding as this video shows:
While we are currently analyzing the bill, university law professor Michael Geist is offering a preliminary analysis of the bill. Here are some highlights he offers:
2. The digital lock provisions are worse than the DMCA. Yes – worse. The law creates a blanket prohibition on circumvention with very limited exceptions and creates a ban against distributing the tools that can be used to circumvent. While Prentice could have adopted a more balanced approach (as New Zealand and Canada’s Bill C-60 did), the effect of these provisions will be to make Canadians infringers for a host of activities that are common today including watching out-of-region-coded DVDs, copying and pasting materials from a DRM’d book, or even unlocking a cellphone.
While that is the similar to the U.S. law, the exceptions are worse. The Canadian law includes a few limited exceptions for privacy, encryption research, interoperable computer programs, people with sight disabilities, and security, yet Canadians can’t actually use these exceptions since the tools needed to pick the digital lock in order to protect their privacy are banned. In other words, check the fine print again – you can protect your privacy but the tools to do so are now illegal. Dig deeper and it gets worse. Under the U.S. law, there is mandatory review process every three years to identify new exceptions. Under the Canadian law, its up to the government to introduce new exceptions if it thinks it is needed. Overall, these anti-circumvention provisions go far beyond what is needed to comply with the WIPO Internet treaties and represents an astonishing abdication of the principles of copyright balance that have guided Canadian policy for many years.
3. The other headline grabber is the $500 fine for private use infringement. This will be heralded as a reasonable compromise, but check the fine print. Canadian law already allows a court to order damages below $500 per infringement, so the change may not be as dramatic as expected (though $500 in damages is the maximum for private use infringement). Moreover, it is already arguably legal to download sound recordings in Canada. Under the proposal, there are exceptions for uploading or posting music online (ie. making available) and even the suggestion that posting a copyright-protected work to YouTube could result in the larger $20,000 per infringement damage award.
5. The education community received several provisions that are largely gutted by the fine print. For example, library materials can be distributed in electronic form, but must not extend beyond five days. In other words, it turns librarians into locksmiths. Moreover, there is an Internet exception that educators wanted but it does not apply for any works that are either password protected or include a notification that they cannot be used. In other words, online materials that are available under a Creative Commons license are fair game (as they are already), but most everything else is still potentially subject to a restriction. This was precisely what many feared – rather than pursuing the far superior expansion of fair dealing, the education community got a provision that does little to enhance classroom learning.
While this will no doubt become a flash point for hot debate, we here at ZeroPaid will be conducting some analysis of our own in the coming articles on this topic.
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Related Posts
- Canada Elects Minority Government, Could Avoid Canadian DMCA Again
- Is the Clock Ticking for the Canadian DMCA?
- The Canadian DMCA and After This Election
- Canadian DMCA Doomed if Government Follows Through and Triggers Election
- The Canadian DMCA – The Actual Text – Damages – $500 – $20,000 Per Infringement
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Fuck that. I would throw out those fines like i do with my photo radar tickets.
I’d like to see them prove it I have a wireless router rigged up and wide effing open!
Just goes to show that Canada is our cousin after all
More like we are your bitch damn politicians need to grow some balls.
Its probably USA fault and Canadian politics follow them. Obviously what would happed to politics or their kids who download illegal stuff?
Damn i gotta move to Sweden
From now on we gotta use a vpnproxy or other ways to download without getting our ass scooped.
so if I purchase cd/dvd i cant copy it for backup -IT’S ILLEGAL WTF!
WE HAVE LEVY TO PAY ON EACH CD IN CANADA!
SO WHAT IF CANADA IS CRITICIZED INTERNATIONALLY BY USA IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU STARTED DON’T DO IT.
Even so USA is our trading partner Canada has so much oil and resources we dont have to worry to get cut by USA trade. Canada can survive by itself.
Just trade to everyone else the United States of America is not the world!
Its about time we start shipping our goods to Europe through the north. Then when the U.S. puts pressure on us or tries to break trade agreements we can say screw you guys were going to Europe.
Check out Online Rights Canada’s new action alert “Tell MPs What’s Wrong with the Prentice Bill”:
http://www.copyrightforcanadians.ca/action/firstlook/ [copyrightforcanadians.ca]
Here’s what their website says about it:
“After months of hesitation Industry Minister Jim Prentice has finally revealed his re-write of Canada’s rules of copyright. Tell your MP just what you think of it.”
Type: Common Interest – Current Eventsription: JUNE 13 2008 UPDATE
Desc
Thanks to the thousands of people who have joined this group over the past 24 hours. As you read up on the bill and consider what else you can do a great start would include:
1. Write to your MP the Industry Minister the Canadian Heritage Minister and the Prime Minister. If you send an email be sure to print it out and drop a copy in the mail. If you are looking for a sample letter visit Copyright for Canadians.
Industry Minister Jim Prentice – Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca Minister.Industry@ic.gc.ca
Canadian Heritage Minister Josee Verner – Verner.J@parl.gc.ca
Prime Minister Stephen Harper – pm@pm.gc.ca
Finding Your Local MP –
Copyright for Canadians
http://www.copyrightforcanadians.ca/action/firstlook/
2. Take 30 minutes from your summer to meet directly with your MP. From late June through much of the summer your MP will be back in your community attending local events and making themselves available to meet with constituents. Give them a call and ask for a meeting. Every MP in the country should return to Ottawa in the fall having heard from their constituents on this issue.
3. You’ve joined this group but consider joining or starting a local chapter and be sure to educate your friends and colleagues about the issue. Local chapters include:
Calgary – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7146413223
Central Nova NS – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=11017946398
Eastern Ontario – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8219268905
Edmonton – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6875186988
Guelph –
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17214388909
Halifax – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22103140253
Hamilton – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21930551981
Kingston – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20040175987
Kitchener-Waterloo – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9746696236
London – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20557699016
Montreal – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6443649882
New Brunswick – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7391140348
Newfoundland – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7244768075
Ottawa – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6572544287
Saskatchewan – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7682623701
Toronto – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28877190256
Vancouver – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8172281301
Victoria – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16292050042
Windsor/Essex County – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20382166520
Winnipeg/Manitoba – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6938787545
York Region – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8460346793
More information on the local chapters including opportunities for new chapters at http://www.faircopyrightforcanada.ca/
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JUNE 12 2008 UPDATE – CANADIAN DMCA INTRODUCED
Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Canadian Heritage Minister Josee Verner introduced Bill C-61 – the Canadian DMCA – earlier this morning. It is apparent that the worst fears of thousands of Canadians – over 42000 as of this date on this group alone – have been realized. If enacted the Canadian DMCA will leave Canada with one of the most restrictive copyright laws for the digital environment in the world. Far from providing assistance to the digital marketplace this law will have a stifling effect on creativity innovation consumer rights and free speech in Canada.
The key provisions include:
1. As expected Prentice has provided a series of attention-grabbing provisions to consumers including time shifting private copying of music (transferring a song to your iPod) and format shifting (changing format from analog to digital). These are good provisions that did not exist in the delayed December bill. However check the fine print since the rules are subject to a host of strict limitations and more importantly undermined by the digital lock provisions. The effect of the digital lock provisions is to render these rights virtually meaningless in the digital environment because anything that is locked down (ie. copy-controlled CD no-copy mandate on a digital television broadcast) cannot be copied. As for every day activities like transferring a DVD to your iPod – those are infringing too. Indeed the law makes it an infringement to circumvent the locks for these purposes.
2. The digital lock provisions are worse than the DMCA. Yes – worse. The law creates a blanket prohibition on circumvention with very limited exceptions and creates a ban against distributing the tools that can be used to circumvent. While Prentice could have adopted a more balanced approach (as New Zealand and Canada’s Bill C-60 did) the effect of these provisions will be to make Canadians infringers for a host of activities that are common today including watching out-of-region-coded DVDs copying and pasting materials from a DRM’d book or even unlocking a cellphone.
While that is the similar to the U.S. law the exceptions are worse. The Canadian law includes a few limited exceptions for privacy encryption research interoperable computer programs people with sight disabilities and security yet Canadians can’t actually use these exceptions since the tools needed to pick the digital lock in order to protect their privacy are banned. In other words check the fine print again – you can protect your privacy but the tools to do so are now illegal. Dig deeper and it gets worse. Under the U.S. law there is mandatory review process every three years to identify new exceptions. Under the Canadian law its up to the government to introduce new exceptions if it thinks it is needed. Overall these anti-circumvention provisions go far beyond what is needed to comply with the WIPO Internet treaties and represents an astonishing abdication of the principles of copyright balance that have guided Canadian policy for many years.
3. The other headline grabber is the $500 fine for private use infringement. This will be heralded as a reasonable compromise but check the fine print. Canadian law already allows a court to order damages below $500 per infringement so the change may not be as dramatic as expected (though $500 in damages is the maximum for private use infringement). Moreover it is already arguably legal to download sound recordings in Canada. Under the proposal there are exceptions for uploading or posting music online (ie. making available) and even the suggestion that posting a copyright-protected work to YouTube could result in the larger $20000 per infringement damage award.
4. The ISP provisions are precisely as expected with a statutory notice-and-notice system. However check the fine print. The role of the ISP may be undermined by the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement which the government trumpets in its press release.
5. The education community received several provisions that are largely gutted by the fine print. For example library materials can be distributed in electronic form but must not extend beyond five days. In other words it turns librarians into locksmiths. Moreover there is an Internet exception that educators wanted but it does not apply for any works that are either password protected or include a notification that they cannot be used. In other words online materials that are available under a Creative Commons license are fair game (as they are already) but most everything else is still potentially subject to a restriction. This was precisely what many feared – rather than pursuing the far superior expansion of fair dealing the education community got a provision that does little to enhance classroom learning.
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MAY 2008 UPDATE
Six months after this group played a key role in convincing the Canadian government to delay the introduction of the Canadian DMCA it would appear that the legislation is back. Sources say that a Canadian DMCA will be introduced before the summer break – likely in the last week of May or the first week of June.
There will be considerable work in the weeks and months ahead. The starting point however is to write immediately to Industry Minister Jim Prentice and your local MP to let them know that Canadians won’t be deceived by attempts to tinker with a few new consumer rights while leaving the DMCA provisions intact. A quick email or letter (no stamp needed) is all it takes:
Industry Minister Jim Prentice – Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca Minister.Industry@ic.gc.ca
Prime Minister Stephen Harper – pm@pm.gc.ca
Finding Your Local MP –
More details on the government’s plans at http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2942/125/
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In December 2007 it became apparent that the Canadian government was about to introduce new copyright legislation that would have been a complete sell-out to U.S. government and lobbyist demands. The new Canadian legislation was to have mirrored the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act with strong anti-circumvention legislation that goes far beyond what is needed to comply with the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Internet treaties. Moreover it was not going to address the issues that concern millions of Canadians. For example the Conservatives’ promise to eliminate the private copying levy was to be abandoned. There was no flexible fair dealing. No parody exception. No time shifting exception. No device shifting exception. No expanded backup provision. Nothing that focuses on the concerns of ordinary Canadians.
Instead the government was about to choose locks over learning property over privacy enforcement over education (law)suits over security lobbyists over librarians and U.S. policy over a “Canadian-made” solution.
This group was formed to help ensure that the government hears from concerned Canadians. It features news about the bill tips on making the public voice heard and updates on local events. With regular postings and links to other content it also provides a central spot for people to learn more about Canadian copyright reform.
Within weeks thousands of Canadians joined this group and promoted fair copyright in Canada. As of January 2008 the bill has not been introduced though there are indications that Industry Minister Jim Prentice plans to push forward with a Canadian DMCA once Parliament resumes. If true Canadians must continue to press their elected officials to listen to the concerns of Canadians on digital copyright.
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Thanks to Jason Crocker for building a Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook application. The application will provide a direct feed of recent developments and advocacy opportunities right to your Facebook profile. Get the application at
Keep it up I’ll hopefully be able to report on some more stuff I find in the text of the bill as I read it – though I got a lot of it up already.