VZCZCXRO8048
OO RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHMT RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0794/01 1642019
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 122019Z JUN 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8018
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000794 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN AND EEB/TPP/IPE 
STATE PASS USTR FOR MELLE, SULIVAN, AND GARDE 
COMMERCE FOR SEBASTIAN WRIGHT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR CA
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT OF CANADA INTRODUCES ACT TO AMEND 
COPYRIGHT ACT - AT LAST 
 
REF: OTTAWA 586 
 
¶1. (U) On June 12, the Government of Canada introduced Bill 
C-61, An Act to amend the Copyright Act.  This action had 
been long awaited.  Minister of Industry Prentice 
characterized the bill as a "unique, made-in-Canada approach 
to copyright reform...(which will) improve the protection of 
cultural and intellectual property in Canada."  Canadian 
Heritage Minster Verner said "These proposed amendments 
represent the first major reform of the Copyright Act in more 
than a decade." 
 
¶2. (U) Since Parliament is expected to adjourn for summer 
recess by the end of next week, hearings on the bill in the 
House of Commons Industry Committee are not expected until 
fall.  We expect that the hearings will last several months. 
If the Prime Minister prorogues (adjourns and clears all 
outstanding legislation from) Parliament as rumored, then the 
bill would die on the table and would need to be reintroduced 
in the fall. 
 
¶3. (U) Stakeholders have begun analyzing the lengthy and 
complex document but have not yet issued substantive 
comments.  Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa Law 
Professor and influential critic of reforming the Copyright 
Act, claims that the Canadian Act "is a close model of the 
U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)" and the Act's 
"digital lock provisions are worse (stronger) than the DMCA." 
 
¶4. (U) The Embassy emailed the text of the bill to relevant 
Washington Agencies and will report reactions to the 
legislation in septel. 
 
 
¶5. (U) Text of Industry Canada press release: 
 
Government of Canada Proposes Update to Copyright Law: 
Balanced Approach to Truly Benefit Canadians 
OTTAWA, June 12, 2008 --Today the Government of Canada 
introduced long-overdue and much-needed amendments to the 
Copyright Act that will bring it in line with advances in 
technology and current international standards. 
 
"Our government has committed to ensuring Canada's copyright 
law is up to date, and today we are delivering by introducing 
this "made-in-Canada" bill that balances the interests of 
Canadians who use digital technology and those who create 
content," said the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of 
Industry. "It's a win-win approach because we're ensuring 
that Canadians can use digital technologies at home with 
their families, at work, or for educational and research 
purposes. We are also providing new rights and protections 
for Canadians who create the content and who want to better 
secure their work online." 
 
"These proposed amendments represent the first major reform 
of the Copyright Act in more than a decade. In that time, the 
Internet and other new technologies have radically changed 
the way we produce and access copyright material," said the 
Honourable Jose Verner, Minister of Canadian Heritage, 
Status of Women and Official Languages and Minister for La 
Francophonie. "Canadians are known around the world for their 
creativity and ingenuity, and many of their ideas are found 
in the books we read, the music we listen to, the movies we 
watch, and the new digital technology we use in our 
day-to-day lives. Our balanced copyright reform builds on 
these successes." 
 
Today's announcement follows the government's commitment in 
the 2007 Speech from the Throne to proceed with copyright 
reform. The proposed amendments include: 
 
new exceptions that will allow Canadian consumers to legally 
record television shows for later viewing and copy legally 
Qrecord television shows for later viewing and copy legally 
acquired music onto other devices, such as iPods or 
cellphones; 
 
new exceptions for some educational and research purposes; 
 
new rights and protections for those who create content; and 
 
provisions to address the liability of Internet service 
providers and the role they should play in curbing 
copyright-infringing activities on their networks. 
 
Four principles motivated the government in the development 
of the proposed changes to the Copyright Act: 
 
OTTAWA 00000794  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶1. The rights of those who hold copyright must be balanced 
with the needs of users to access copyright works. 
 
¶2. The Copyright Act must provide clear, predictable and fair 
rules to allow Canadians to derive benefits from their 
creations. 
 
¶3. The Copyright Act should foster innovation in an effort to 
attract investment and high-paying jobs to Canada. 
 
¶4. Canada must ensure that its copyright framework for the 
Internet is in line with international standards. 
 
These amendments to the Copyright Act are part of the 
government's broader intellectual property strategy, which 
includes the recent amendments to the Criminal Code to combat 
movie piracy and the announcement that Canada will work with 
other international trading partners towards a possible 
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). 
 
For more information, please visit the Copyright Reform 
Process website at 
http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en /home. 
 
End Text 
 
Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada 
 
WILKINS