The fight between the entertainment industry and illegal file sharers has moved north of the border, with Bill C-11 set to reach the floor of Canadian Parliament this week. Bill C-11 is the latest iteration in a series of proposed amendments to Canada’s Copyright Act which aim to provide more powerful tools in governing copyright violations. 

Bill C-11 is the fourth attempt to reform Canada’s Copyright Act and is one that, for the most part, is a fair and balanced compromise between the security demanded by the entertainment industry and the rights of consumers. For example, Bill C-11 would legalize the ability to record TV shows and make backups of media that people own. In acknowledgement of recent musical trends, there is also a remix provision that protects individuals who create mash-ups for their own non-commercial use. 

One point of contention in the bill, however, is the proposed digital lock provision, that would prohibit consumers from transferring media from one medium to another if there is a digital lock on the media. This would mean that moving content from a DVD to an iPod would be illegal. Currently, it is not prohibited to transfer media from one form to another, thus the digital lock provision would supersede the current fair use rights of the consumer. There are also concerns amongst critics that lawmakers are pushing to include many of the elements seen in SOPA, like DNS blacklisting, in Bill C-11. However, none of these provisions are in the bill yet. 

The last three attempts at reforming Canada’s Copyright Act have all been blocked by election calls and were never truly considered before the House of Commons. The proposed bill underwent many changes over that period, but critics still feel that not enough has been done. Government House Leader Peter Van Loan stated that the government hopes to pass it within the next few months. It seems Bill C-11 won’t go the way of its predecessors.