Bill C-11 explained in plain English

Bill C-11 modernizes Canada's copyright law to address digital technology while balancing the rights of copyright owners with new exceptions for education, personal use, people with disabilities, and non-commercial activities.

Bill C-11, officially called the Copyright Modernization Act, updates Canada's copyright law to reflect changes in digital technology and international standards. The law was passed by Parliament and received royal assent on June 29, 2012. The main changes include: **What copyright owners gain:** - Authors and performers now have stronger protections for their work in the digital age - Copyright owners can control how their work is shared online, including through streaming services - Photographers now have the same copyright protections as other creators - People who create performances or sound recordings get new rights to be paid for public performances and online transmission **What limitations and exceptions allow:** - Students and educators can make greater use of copyrighted material for teaching and learning - Individuals can create new works based on existing ones (like parodies or fan art) for non-commercial purposes, as long as they don't harm the market for the original - Individuals can make private copies for personal use (for example, recording a TV show to watch later) - People with disabilities can access copyrighted material in formats suitable for them - Libraries, archives, and museums can make digital copies and share them in specific ways - Backup copies can be made for personal use - Teachers can communicate lessons to students online within certain boundaries **How the law handles circumvention (breaking digital locks):** The law makes it illegal to break technological protection measures (digital locks) on copyrighted material in most cases. However, some exceptions exist for security testing, encryption research, accessing content for people with disabilities, and interoperability of computer programs. **Internet service provider rules:** Internet service providers are not responsible for copyright infringement on their networks simply by providing internet access. However, if a service is specifically designed to enable copyright infringement, that itself becomes an infringement. **Statutory damages (fixed penalties):** If someone infringes copyright, courts can award statutory damages (fixed amounts decided by the court) instead of requiring proof of actual harm. For commercial infringement, damages range from $500 to $20,000 per work. For non-commercial infringement, damages range from $100 to $5,000. **Notice and takedown:** Copyright owners can send notices to internet providers about infringing content. Providers must forward these notices to users and keep records to identify who posted the content. **Parliamentary review:** Parliament must review the entire law every five years to make sure it is still working properly.

A legislative summary is currently being prepared for this bill by the Parliamentary Information and Research Service of the Library of Parliament. Meanwhile, the following executive summary is available. On 29 September 2011, the Minister Industry introduced Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Copyright Act (Copyright Modernization Act), in the House of Commons and it was given first reading. The bill amends the Copyright Act. Among other things, it • updates the rights and protections of copyright owners; • clarifies Internet service providers’ liability and make the enabling of online copyright infringement itself an infringement of copyright; • permits businesses, educators and libraries to make greater use of copyright material in digital form; • permits certain uses of copyright material by consumers; • gives photographers the same rights as other creators; • ensures that it remains technologically neutral; and • mandates its review by Parliament every five years.