House of Commons committee launches statutory review of Copyright Act

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology has adopted a work plan under which it will conduct a statutorily mandated review of the Copyright Act.

The Committee will conduct the review in three phases. It will hear testimony from:

  • Witnesses representing specific sectors of activity, including publishing, visual arts, software and telecommunications (Phase I);
  • Witnesses representing a range of stakeholders involved in multiple sectors of activity, such as Indigenous communities and various interest groups (Phase II); and
  • Legal experts, including individual lawyers and academics, along with professional associations (Phase III).

The Committee will also travel across Canada in May to provide Canadians more opportunities to express their views on copyright.

The Committee aims to complete all three phases by early 2019.

To support the review of the Act, the Committee invited the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to conduct a study on remuneration models for artists and creative industries.

The Committee invites Canadians to submit written briefs not exceeding 2,000 words.

You can read the full release from the federal government here.