Osgoode Hall Review of Law and Policy (OHRLP)

This submission details the reforms that the author believes are necessary in order to “rationalize” the Copyright Act. It attempts to answer five questions which have been posed by the Ministers of Industry and Heritage in connection with the public consultation on the need to “modernize” the Copyright Act. The author is concerned that the ‘modernization’ that is called for may simply serve to protect powerful interest groups such as the MPAA. A variety of reforms are suggested, including: protection from any form of government censorship; a functional definition of ‘works’ which focuses on originality, self-expression and fixation; minimum benefit guarantees for users; an extension of the blank storage device levy; streamlining the acquisition and use of works commissioned for commercial purposes; and the recognition of the right to create and publish works of parody. The author concludes by noting that the whole point of copyright is to obtain the widest access to published works.