University of Waterloo submits recommendations to the Copyright Act review committee

The Canadian Copyright Act - which governs copyright law in Canada - has been under review for over a year. During this time, 183 briefs have been submitted to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science, and Technology, providing recommendations around possible changes to the act, and aspects that are important to maintain. Among those briefs are a number submitted by universities, including University of Waterloo.

University of Waterloo’s brief included four recommendations:

1. Retain education as an enumerated purpose in fair dealing.
2. Give copyright exceptions protection from contract override.
3. Maintain the cap on statutory damages for non-commercial infringement.
4. Avoid the unintended consequences of restrictive copyright law.
   1. Include the term “such as” in fair dealing, to facilitate flexible interpretation.

The brief was drafted in collaboration with the University’s Copyright Advisory Committee, and was submitted to the Parliament of Canada by the Office of the Provost.

All submitted briefs can be read on the Statutory Review of the Copyright Act website, which also hosts video of testimony provided to the committee throughout the review.