Copyright: Canada’s Notice-and-Notice Provisions

By Richard Stobbe

The made-in-Canada notice-and-notice provisions are coming in January, 2015. 

You may recall that in June 2012 the Copyright Modernization Act was passed by Parliament. Portions of the new copyright law came into force in November 2012, while the so-called notice-and-notice procedures were held back, to give the government time to consider regulations. (See: New Copyright Act Becomes Law… In Part) Through an Order in Council, the government has elected to proceed without regulations.

The new provisons legally require Internet intermediaries, such as ISPs and website hosts, to take certain actions upon receiving a notice of alleged infringement from a copyright owner.

Specifically, ISPs and hosts are required to forward notices, sent by copyright owners, to users whose Internet address has been identified as being the source of possible infringement. The intermediary must also inform the copyright owner once the notice has been sent.

The Copyright Modernization Act sets clear rules on the content of these notices. Specifically, they must be in writing and state the claimant’s name and address, identify the material allegedly being infringed and the claimant’s right to it, as well as specify the infringing activity, the date and time of the alleged activity, and the electronic address associated with the incident.

Related Reading: Government Backgrounder

Calgary – 07:00 MST

No comments

No comments yet. Be the first.

Leave a reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.