Bill C-11 to become law next week; consultation on notice-and-notice, sources say

Most of the Conservative government's copyright reform bill, C-11, will come into force next week as other sections are expected to be delayed until next year, industry sources and observers said. A Privy Council Office document, dated Oct. 25 and leaked online, outlined which provisions of the bill will come into force immediately and which will be delayed. “It is expected that the order bringing the bill into effect will be published on November 7, 2012. The majority of the bill will take effect on that date, including fair dealing reform, new consumer exceptions, caps on statutory damages for non-commercial infringement, the user generated content provision, and the digital lock rules,” Michael Geist, the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, wrote on his blog Wednesday. Two industry sources tracking the bill said they expect most of the provisions to be published Saturday in the Canada Gazette, Canada's regulatory publication, and come into force the following Wednesday, Nov. 7. The bill's provision for Internet service provider liability through the form of a “notice and notice” system will not come into force until after a consultation on regulations to implement the system, one source said. Another provision dealing with sound recording remuneration for non-Canadians can come into force after Canada ratifies the Internet treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which the bill implements, the person said. Under the notice-and-notice regime, rights holders contact an ISP if they see allegedly infringing material on its network. The ISP then notifies the relevant customer about the complaint and informs them that the rights holder may pursue legal action. The sections to come into force next week are expected to include Bill C-11's “enabler” provision, which rights holders will probably use to target Canadian torrent search engines like isoHunt.com. The government will also bring into force a provision that exempts radio stations from compensating collective societies for mechanical reproduction rights paid for transferring and reformatting music files. Jacques Parisien, Astral Media Inc.’s executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said during a conference call with analysts Wednesday that the company expects to save between five and six million dollars per year on its radio operations when Bill C-11 becomes law. Bill C-11 received royal assent in June. sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

Bill C-11 to become law next week; consultation on notice-and-notice, sources say

Broadcast | October 31, 2012

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Bill C-11 to become law next week; consultation on notice-and-notice, sources say

Broadcast | October 31, 2012

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