Exclude copyright from all trade agreements: Heritage committee report

The opposition parties on the House of Commons heritage committee have recommended that the government exclude copyright policy from trade negotiations and focus on developing international copyright policy through bodies like the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). A committee report tabled in the House Monday, supported by the opposition members on the committee, called on the Conservative government “to ensure that domestic copyright policies are not part of any present or future trade negotiations.” The report addresses cultural diversity issues and trade negotiations related to the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), both of which deal substantially with copyright. Michael Geist, the Canada research chair of Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said the position of the opposition parties is significant as a spring election now appears unavoidable. He said the CETA and ACTA trade agreements depart from the conventional norms of what trade agreements should cover. “This is not part of what we would traditionally think of with respect to market access, tariff barriers, and those sorts of issues around trade,” he said. He added that Canada can work with international partners to try and avoid putting copyright into trade agreements. “I think there are many jurisdictions we should be talking to that are like-minded on this issue.” Parties to the ACTA released a final text last year, which was considered a watered down version of earlier drafts modeled on the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The ACTA’s participating countries are Australia, Canada, the EU and its member states, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States. Critics such as Geist have taken aim at the CETA and ACTA negotiations as a kind of back-door “policy laundering” to change Canada’s intellectual property laws to suit the interests of large trading partners. The agreements have also been criticized for a lack of transparency. In the CETA, the EU is proposing changes to Canada’s copyright law, including an extension of Canada’s term of copyright from 50 to 70 years, a measure that is not currently in the Conservative government’s copyright reform legislation, Bill C-32. Canada and EU officials ambitiously say they hope to finalize CETA by the end of the year. The CETA also includes a chapter dealing with telecommunications, in which the EU seeks to open up Canada’s telecom sector to foreign ownership, but the Canadian government has not yet made a decision on that matter. Industry Minister Tony Clement is the lead on the issue. The heritage committee also recommended that the Canadian government’s commitments to implementing the ACTA “are limited to the agreement’s focus on combating international counterfeiting and commercial piracy efforts; and that the Government of Canada retains the right to maintain domestic copyright policies that have been developed within the framework of its commitments to the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Berne Convention.” Geist agreed with the committee report that international copyright should be discussed—but said it should be talked about within international, multilateral institutions. “It’s not that you can’t talk about international copyright. Of course you should talk about international copyright,” he said. Geist added that he believes digital issues such as copyright and usage-based billing will become part of a coming election campaign. An election this spring, triggered by a confidence vote, would kill the Conservative government’s Bill C-32 before it passes. The heritage committee report also recommended that: the government “fully respect cultural diversity treaties” and called on the Conservatives to reaffirm their “commitment to fully uphold UNESCO obligations while negotiating any present or future trade agreements”; the government ensure that in trade agreements “Canada retains the right to set domestic cultural and telecommunications policies, including the right to establish programs and incentives to support our domestic cultural industries”; the government examines Canadian trademark laws and their enforcement to ensure that “necessary tools are in place to combat counterfeiting”; and that the government negotiate agreements with greater transparency and public input. The Conservative members of the committee issued a dissenting opinion, saying that a study on the ACTA and CETA should not have been brought before the heritage committee. The Tories said the trade agreements could have been more effectively studied at the House of Commons international trade committee and that “the government members therefore also disagree with the 4 recommendations attached to the report.” news@thewirereport.ca

Exclude copyright from all trade agreements: Heritage committee report

Broadcast | March 23, 2011

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