Michael Geist:
This is Law Bytes, a podcast with Michael Geist.
Dan Ruimy:
Thank you Mr. Speaker. I have the honour to present in both official languages the 16th report of the Standing Committee on Industry Science and Technology entitled statutory review of the copyright act pursuant to Standing Order 1 0 9. The committee request that the government table a comprehensive response to this report. Mr. Speaker I’d also like to thank all committee members, all those that appeared before committee, those that took the time to meet with us and our five city tour, and those that took the time to submit online documents. The committee consulted a broad range of stakeholders to ensure as many perspectives could be considered. In all we held 52 meetings her two hundred and three sixty three witnesses collected one hundred and ninety two brief and received more than 6000 e-mails and other correspondence. I also want to thank our committee’s clerk, analysts and all the supporting staff for doing such an amazing job keeping us on track through such a lengthy and complex study. Thank you.
Michael Geist:
In December 2017, the Canadian government launched its much anticipated and much lobbied review of Canadian copyright law, tasking the Standing Committee on Industry Science and Technology to lead the way. After months of study and hundreds of witnesses and briefs the committee released its review with 36 recommendations earlier this month. The report takes a decidedly evidence based approach and is notable both for what it recommends and rejects. Recommendations include expanding fair dealing and adding flexibility to Canada’s digital lock rules. While the committee rejected a Web site blocking system and a proposal to exclude education from fair dealing where a license is otherwise available. I had the chance to appear before the committee. My remarks were the subject of an earlier Law Bytes podcast as did this week’s guest Osgoode Hall law professor Carys Craig. Professor Craig is one of Canada’s leading copyright law experts and she joins me to help sort through the report and what it means for the future of Canadian copyright law.
Michael Geist:
Carys, welcome to the podcast.
Carys Craig:
Thank you for having me on.
Michael Geist:
After a year of studying the copyright review with hundreds of witnesses and briefs the Standing Committee on Industry Science and Technology that everyone just calls INDU has finally released its report. Why don’t we start with a background of how this came about: so why was there a copyright review and who exactly is INDU.
Carys Craig:
Okay great. So yes this is the culmination of a five year review that was actually mandated by the 2012 Copyright Modernization Act. And so when that was passed itself the result of many years of consultation and consideration of potential reforms. The notion was that it would be worth revisiting in five years to understand the way in which the act was taking shape how it was being applied. And of course bearing in mind the sort of rapidity of technological change. So five years rolled around and the committee was struck in order to conduct this review and that itself took some considerable time. So it’s only now in twenty nineteen of course that we’re finally receiving this report.
Michael Geist:
Okay. So the the initial law or at least the reforms back in 2012. Got to review this every five years it takes a couple takes some time to get it going. They went with INDU and so that’s the industry side. And I imagine that there was some debate at least internally and certainly externally about which committee amongst the potential committees I suppose that the government that the House of Commons has that they chose to conduct this study.
Carys Craig:
Yes that’s right. So in Canada there are two ministries that kind of have an eye on copyright policy. So that is the Heritage and the Industry Science and Technology Ministry. And so there’s always been a degree of and I think maybe it’s fair to say tension in terms of who takes the lead and certainly what we’ve seen over the years is that both ministries have a kind of different approach to copyright policy and so that means it can make kind of a vital difference which industry or which ministry sorry takes the lead in copyright review and copyright reform, which is of course exactly what we’ve seen in this particular process.
Michael Geist:
Right. So industry led but there is also a study report that the committee for Canadian heritage, a standing committee of Ca
