A new copyright bill was introduced in Parliament yesterday as Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act. This bill includes some important new provisions that recognize the right of the public to use works fairly. Canadians will be given wider scope to use copyrighted works for parody, satire, and education. It will become legal to place legally-purchased music on an iPod, as well as to record television shows for later viewing.

Unfortunately, most of these gains for the Canadian public will be for naught if another significant provision of the bill passes into law: U.S.-style anti-circumvention measures. By simply placing a digital lock on content, any commercial copyright owner will be able to ensure that no fair dealing provisions apply. "Copyright" may be infringed even where content is used after the fifty-year copyright protection in a work has expired!

This bill has not yet been passed into law and is still open to amendment. The time to act is now! If you'd like to see this bill reflect Canadian interests rather than accede to U.S. pressure on introducing these digital-lock provisions, please take action! Click here to find out how you can help!