Canadian Lawyer

UPFRONT 10 www.canadianlawyermag.com OTTAWA UPDATE NEWS BRIEFS Amendments to Copyright Act urged Access Copyright has called for reformed legislation to ensure a 'functional marketplace for educational publishing' ACCESS COPYRIGHT has called on Parliament to take immediate steps to amend the Copyright Act. This push follows a Supreme Court of Canada decision that found the national copyright collective could not force tariffs on a university to use published works in its classrooms. In York University v. Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright), a unan- imous Supreme Court in August dismissed Access Copyright's appeal of a Federal Court of Appeal decision that an interim tariff on educational materials, set by the Copyright Board, was not mandatory for users who did not opt to be bound by a licence. The Supreme Court also dismissed York University's appeals from the dismissal of its fair dealing counterclaim. "Access Copyright was trying to get clarity from the [Supreme] Court around whether mass systemic and systematic uncompen- sated copying by York University (and other educational institutions that adopted similar copying policies) was 'fair,'" Access Copyright General Counsel Asma Faizi said. "Despite the overwhelming evidence that the copying policies caused economic harm to creators and publishers," who Access Copyright represents outside of Quebec, "this question still remains unanswered, and it is uncertain what educational institu- tions can copy." Intellectual Property Institute makes 3 policy recom- mendations The Intellectual Property Institute of Canada has called on Canada to introduce a patent incentive program and a stimulus to help small and medium- sized businesses protect their trademarks, arguing the funds will spur innovation and economic growth. IPIC recently released a submission for pre-budget consultations in advance of the upcoming federal budget, with three policy recommendations, including implementing a patent incentive program akin to Quebec's Passport Innovation. The initiative would pay for initial due diligence and establishment of an IP strategy and the drafting and filing of an invention's first patent application. Federal Court awards $29M for copyright infringement The Federal Court found in favour of a group of media broadcasters — including Bell Canada, Videotron, TVA Group and Rogers Communications Canada — in ordering a group of retailers to stop distributing and selling set-top boxes that allowed unauthorized or illegal access to Canadian television content. The court ordered the broadcasters to pay $29.3 million in damages. In the August Bell Canada v. L3D Distributing Inc. ruling, Justice Janet Fuhrer found the defendants had infringed the plaintiffs' statutory rights under the Copyright Act, including the right to communicate a work to the public by telecommunication and the making available right. Panel struck for delivery of MAID to mentally ill In August, Minister of Health, Patty Hajdu, and Minister of Justice, David Lametti, announced an expert panel on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) and mental illness, which will make recommendations on protocols, guidance and safeguards. The revised MAID legislation, which came into force in March, temporarily excludes Canadians who are otherwise eligible but have a mental illness. The panel will be chaired by Montreal psychiatrist Mona Gupta and vice-chaired by Rose Carter, counsel at Dentons Canada LLP in Edmonton. It will submit its report to the ministers by Mar. 17, 2022. Indigenous group claims discrimination against non-status, off-reserve inhabitants The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples announced it filed a formal complaint against the federal government, alleging discrimination against Canada's off-reserve status and non-status Indigenous peoples "based on their indigeneity." The complaint was filed on Sept. 9 with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. CAP represents approximately 800,000 Indigenous people in Canada who live off-reserve and are non-status. Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the federal government has failed to meet with CAP leadership in the past five years, said CAP Chief, Eldon St. Pierre. Murder in first-degree conviction entered related to terrorism Canada has entered its first conviction under s. 231(6.01) of the Criminal Code, which deems murder to be in the first degree if committed in the course of terrorist activity. Saad Akhtar entered his guilty plea and was sentenced to life imprisonment on Aug. 26, without parole eligibility for 25 years. In February 2020, Akhtar randomly singled out Annie Hang-Kam Chiu and beat her to death with a hammer on a sidewalk in Scarborough, Ont. He later turned himself into Toronto police, confessing he had been motivated by ISIS propaganda.

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