Jointly Signed by 25 Canadian IP Scholars
As a group of Canadian Intellectual Property Law scholars, we write to express our deep concern regarding the reference in the 2022 Federal Budget to amendments to the Copyright Act. We strongly urge you to exclude the contemplated amendments to the Copyright Act from any Budget Implementation Bill and ensure that their enactment would follow the ordinary legislative process.
The Budget 2022 announcement indicates two areas of legislative changes: term extension, and educational uses. It states:
[T]he government proposes to introduce amendments to the Copyright Act to extend the general term of copyright protection from 50 to 70 years after the life of the author as agreed under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. The government is committed to ensuring that the Copyright Act protects all creators and copyright holders. As such, the government will also work to ensure a sustainable educational publishing industry, including fair remuneration for creators and copyright holders, as well as a modern and innovative marketplace that can efficiently serve copyright users.
