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LEGAL REPORT/INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY An presentation Reintroduction of the copyright modernization act to Parliament is certain, but there's likely still to be some tweaks from previous (unpassed) incarnations. BY ANDI BALLA I t was a different world in 1997, the last time Canada's copyright laws were updated. Many of the technologies taken for granted today did not exist or were in their infancy. There were no iPads or YouTube. MP3s were just making their debut and streaming video on the web was almost an exercise in futility. And apps were not even a twinkle in anyone's eye. It is not surprising then that most Canadians agree copyright protections need to be updated to meet the new realities of the digital era. And it's not that Canadian governments have not tried, but reforming outdated copyright laws — something that affects tens of thousands of companies and individuals — has been an elusive enterprise. One after another, proposed bills have failed to get approval. In the last Parliament alone, legislation aiming to modernize copyright in Canada died twice. First there was prorogation of Parliament, then the dissolution of Parliament that led to the May election and killed bill C-32, the latest incarnation of the copyright mod- ernization act. There were also two earlier attempts — bill C-60 in 2005 and bill C-61 in 2008. Both died on the order table. So the passing of a new act can't come soon enough, says Barry Sookman, an intel- lectual property lawyer who says current Canadian copyright legislation is designed for the last century. "Our copyright laws are badly in need of modernization," says Sookman, a partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Toronto. Reintroduction of the copyright mod- ernization act to the new Parliament is a certainty, but the final shape the legisla- tion will take is not clear yet. Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro of Peterborough, Ont., who led the special parliamentary committee discussing the last version of the reform, bill C-32, says a new bill will be reintroduced in Parliament soon, and will be largely the same as the version killed by the dissolution of Parliament earlier this year. Politically, there isn't much that can stop the new bill. The Conservative party, which now has a majority, had placed the reintroduction of the bill in its election platform. Del Mastro says members of Parliament had heard from hundreds of interested parties when bill C-32 was being discussed and they generally agreed with new legisla- tion. "The message we heard very clearly was that bill C-32 was indeed balanced. We also heard that bill C-32 opened up opportunities for the future for Canada's economy, for our students, for our places of higher learning, and for industry," Del Mastro told Parliament last December. Since the new legislation will be based on bill C-32, it would, among other things, differentiate between individual and commercial copyright infringements, make Internet service providers immune to their users' infringements, and make it illegal to break digital locks on electronic delivery tools. Supporters say it brings Canada in line with the rest of the indus- trialized world, while offering enhanced protection for fair usage and everyday activities like moving music to an iPod. For intellectual property lawyers like Sookman, the bill will help improve Canada's copyright laws, but they still expect some tweaks and debate. "The bill in its current form, if amended to address acknowledged technical problems and drafting deviations from the government's www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com JULY 2011 39 enc or e matt DaLey