FEATURE
48 www.canadianlawyermag.com
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Industry, Science and Technology within
three years.
An artist's resale right was recommended
in both reports, says Yuri Chumak, partner
and cofounder of IP firm Chumak &
Company LLP in Toronto. The ARR applies
when the artist's work is sold publicly, e.g.,
at auction, and would mean the artist would
receive additional compensation for the
work; it would not affect private sales, he
says. "The question is whether this would be
even workable or constitutional."
CHPC report, Recommendation
14: That the government amend subs.
14(1) of the Copyright Act so that it reads
"from 25 years after assignment."
become a right to terminate all copyright
assignment 25 years after the date of assign-
ment, suggesting that the words "death of the
author" in article 14 (1) of the act be changed
to the word "assignment."
This recommendation was intended to
limit any unfairness that arises from the
"[The reversionary right
recommendation] is huge [and] could
disrupt almost any industry, frankly, but
largely on the entertainment side."
Catherine Lovrics Bereskin & Parr LLP
The Copyright Act currently states that
authors who assign their rights by contract
may only get them back 25 years after their
death, when their estate would manage
these rights. During consultations before the
Heritage committee, Canadian singer and
songwriter Bryan Adams proposed that that