By Jaimie Bordman
The length of the term of copyright protection in Canada is going up.
Canada’s budget implementation bill contains amendments to the Copyright Act that will extend the term of copyright. The new term length will be the life of the author, plus 70 years. This is up from the current term which extends for the life of the author plus 50 years.
Under a term of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (the “USMCA”), each party must provide under its laws copyright having a term of 70 years from the death of the author. The amendments to Canada’s Copyright Act will bring Canada into compliance with this term of the USMCA.
This change will have potentially significant implications for both copyright owners and users of content. If you have questions or concerns over how you or your business may be impacted, Moffat & Co. would like to help. Please contact us to more information.
Jaimie Bordman is an associate and litigation specialist with Moffat & Co.