Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42)

Marginal note:Maximum amount that may be recovered

• 38.2 (1) An owner of copyright in a work who has not authorized a collective society to authorize its reprographic reproduction may recover, in proceedings against an educational institution, library, archive or museum that has reproduced the work, a maximum amount equal to the amount of royalties that would have been payable to the society in respect of the reprographic reproduction, if it were authorized, either

  • (a) under any agreement entered into with the collective society; or

  • (b) under a tariff approved by the Board under section 70.

• Marginal note:Agreements with more than one collective society

  (2) Where agreements respecting reprographic reproduction have been signed with more than one collective society or where more than one tariff applies or where both agreements and tariffs apply, the maximum amount that the copyright owner may recover is the largest amount of the royalties provided for in any of those agreements or tariffs.

• Marginal note:Application

  (3) Subsections (1) and (2) apply only where

  • (a) the collective society is entitled to authorize, or the tariff provides for the payment of royalties in respect of, the reprographic reproduction of that category of work; and

  • (b) copying of that general nature and extent is covered by the agreement or tariff.

Marginal note:Injunction only remedy when defendant not aware of copyright

• 39 (1) Subject to subsection (2), in any proceedings for infringement of copyright, the plaintiff is not entitled to any remedy other than an injunction in respect of the infringement if the defendant proves that, at the date of the infringement, the defendant was not aware and had no reasonable ground for suspecting that copyright subsisted in the work or other subject-matter in question.

• Marginal note:Exception where copyright registered

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if, at the date of the infringement, the copyright was duly registered under this Act.

Marginal note:Wide injunction

• 39.1 (1) When granting an injunction in respect of an infringement of copyright in a work or other subject-matter, the court may further enjoin the defendant from infringing the copyright in any other work or subject-matter if

  • (a) the plaintiff is the owner of the copyright or the person to whom an interest in the copyright has been granted by licence; and

  • (b) the plaintiff satisfies the court that the defendant will likely infringe the copyright in those other works or subject-matter unless enjoined by the court from doing so.

• Marginal note:Application of injunction

  (2) An injunction granted under subsection (1) may extend to works or other subject-matter

  • (a) in respect of which the plaintiff was not, at the time the proceedings were commenced, the owner of the copyright or the person to whom an interest in the copyright has been granted by licence; or

  • (b) that did not exist at the time the proceedings were commenced.

Marginal note:No injunction in case of a building

• 40 (1) Where the construction of a building or other structure that infringes or that, if completed, would infringe the copyright in some other work has been commenced, the owner of the copyright is not entitled to obtain an injunction in respect of the construction of that building or structure or to order its demolition.

• Marginal note:Certain remedies inapplicable

  (2) Sections 38 and 42 do not apply in any case in respect of which subsection (1) applies.

Technological Protection Measures and Rights Management Information

Marginal note:Definitions

41 The following definitions apply in this section and in sections 41.1 to 41.21.

circumvent

circumvent means,

• (a) in respect of a technological protection measure within the meaning of paragraph (a) of the definition technological protection measure, to descramble a scrambled work or decrypt an encrypted work or to otherwise avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate or impair the technological protection measure, unless it is done with the authority of the copyright owner; and

• (b) in respect of a technological protection measure within the meaning of paragraph (b) of the definition technological protection measure, to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate or impair the technological protection measure. (contourner)

technological protection measure

technological protection measure means any effective technology, device or component that, in the ordinary course of its operation,

• (a) controls access to a work, to a performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or to a sound recording and whose use is authorized by the copyright owner; or

• (b) restricts the doing — with respect to a work, to a performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or to a sound recording — of any act referred to in section 3, 15 or 18 and any act for which remuneration is payable under section 19. (mesure technique de protection)

Marginal note:Prohibition

• 41.1 (1) No person shall

  • (a) circumvent a technological protection measure within the meaning of paragraph (a) of the definition technological protection measure in section 41;

  • (b) offer services to the public or provide services if

    • (i) the services are offered or provided primarily for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure,

    • (ii) the uses or purposes of those services are not commercially significant other than when they are offered or provided for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure, or

    • (iii) the person markets those services as being for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure or acts in concert with another person in order to market those services as being for those purposes; or

  • (c) manufacture, import, distribute, offer for sale or rental or provide — including by selling or renting — any technology, device or component if

    • (i) the technology, device or component is designed or produced primarily for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure,

    • (ii) the uses or purposes of the technology, device or component are not commercially significant other than when it is used for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure, or

    • (iii) the person markets the technology, device or component as being for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure or acts in concert with another person in order to market the technology, device or component as being for those purposes.

• Marginal note:Circumvention of technological protection measure

  (2) The owner of the copyright in a work, a performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or a sound recording in respect of which paragraph (1)(a) has been contravened is, subject to this Act and any regulations made under section 41.21, entitled to all remedies — by way of injunction, damages, accounts, delivery up and otherwise — that are or may be conferred by law for the infringement of copyright against the person who contravened that paragraph.

• Marginal note:No statutory damages

  (3) The owner of the copyright in a work, a performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or a sound recording in respect of which paragraph (1)(a) has been contravened may not elect under section 38.1 to recover statutory damages from an individual who contravened that paragraph only for his or her own private purposes.

• Marginal note:Services, technology, device or component

  (4) Every owner of the copyright in a work, a performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or a sound recording in respect of which a technological protection measure has been or could be circumvented as a result of the contravention of paragraph (1)(b) or (c) is, subject to this Act and any regulations made under section 41.21, entitled to all remedies — by way of injunction, damages, accounts, delivery up and otherwise — that are or may be conferred by law for the infringement of copyright against the person who contravened paragraph (1)(b) or (c).

Marginal note:Law enforcement and national security

• 41.11 (1) Paragraph 41.1(1)(a) does not apply if a technological protection measure is circumvented for the purposes of an investigation related to the enforcement of any Act of Parliament or any Act of the legislature of a province, or for the purposes of activities related to the protection of national security.

• Marginal note:Services

  (2) Paragraph 41.1(1)(b) does not apply if the services are provided by or for the persons responsible for carrying out such an investigation or such activities.

• Marginal note:Technology, device or component

  (3) Paragraph 41.1(1)(c) does not apply if the technology, device or component is manufactured, imported or provided by the persons responsible for carrying out such an investigation or such activities, or is manufactured, imported, provided or offered for sale or rental as a service provided to those persons.

Marginal note:Interoperability of computer programs

• 41.12 (1) Paragraph 41.1(1)(a) does not apply to a person who owns a computer program or a copy of one, or has a licence to use the program or copy, and who circumvents a technological protection measure that protects that program or copy for the sole purpose of obtaining information that would allow the person to make the program and any other computer program interoperable.

• Marginal note:Services

  (2) Paragraph 41.1(1)(b) does not apply to a person who offers services to the public or provides services for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure if the person does so for the purpose of making the computer program and any other computer program interoperable.

• Marginal note:Technology, device or component

  (3) Paragraph 41.1(1)(c) does not apply to a person who manufactures, imports or provides a technology, device or component for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure if the person does so for the purpose of making the computer program and any other computer program interoperable and

  • (a) uses that technology, device or component only for that purpose; or

  • (b) provides that technology, device or component to another person only for that purpose.

• Marginal note:Sharing of information

  (4) A person referred to in subsection (1) may communicate the information obtained under that subsection to another person for the purposes of allowing that person to make the computer program and any other computer program interoperable.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (5) A person to whom the technology, device or component referred to in subsection (3) is provided or to whom the information referred to in subsection (4) is communicated may use it only for the purpose of making the computer program and any other computer program interoperable.

• Marginal note:Non-application

  (6) However, a person is not entitled to benefit from the exceptions under subsections (1) to (3) or (5) if, for the purposes of making the computer program and any other computer program interoperable, the person does an act that constitutes an infringement of copyright.

• Marginal note:Non-application

  (7) Furthermore, a person is not entitled to benefit from the exception under subsection (4) if, for the purposes of making the computer program and any other computer program interoperable, the person does an act that constitutes an infringement of copyright or an act that contravenes any Act of Parliament or any Act of the legislature of a province.

Marginal note:Encryption research

• 41.13 (1) Paragraph 41.1(1)(a) does not apply to a person who, for the purposes of encryption research, circumvents a technological protection measure by means of decryption if

  • (a) it would not be practical to carry out the research without circumventing the technological protection measure;

  • (b) the person has lawfully obtained the work, the performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or the sound recording that is protected by the technological protection measure; and

  • (c) the person has informed the owner of the copyright in the work, the performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or the sound recording who has applied the technological protection measure.

• Marginal note:Non-application

  (2) However, a person acting in the circumstances referred to in subsection (1) is not entitled to benefit from the exception under that subsection if the person does an act that constitutes an infringement of copyright or an act that contravenes any Act of Parliament or any Act of the legislature of a province.

• Marginal note:Technology, device or component

  (3) Paragraph 41.1(1)(c) does not apply to a person referred to in subsection (1) who manufactures a technology, device or component for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure that is subject to paragraph 41.1(1)(a) if the person does so for the purpose of encryption research and

  • (a) uses that technology, device or component only for that purpose; or

  • (b) provides that technology, device or component only for that purpose to another person who is collaborating with the person.

Marginal note:Personal information

• 41.14 (1) Paragraph 41.1(1)(a) does not apply to a person who circumvents a technological protection measure if

  • (a) the work, performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or sound recording that is protected by the technological protection measure is not accompanied by a notice indicating that its use will permit a third party to collect and communicate personal information relating to the user or, in the case where it is accompanied by such a notice, the user is not provided with the option to prevent the collection and communication of personal information without the user’s use of it being restricted; and

  • (b) the only purpose of circumventing the technological protection measure is to verify whether it permits the collection or communication of personal information and, if it does, to prevent it.

• Marginal note:Services, technology, device or component

  (2) Paragraphs 41.1(1)(b) and (c) do not apply to a person who offers services to the public or provides services, or manufactures, imports or provides a technology, device or component, for the purposes of circumventing a technological protection measure in accordance with subsection (1), to the extent that the services, technology, device or component do not unduly impair the technological protection measure.

Marginal note:Security

• 41.15 (1) Paragraph 41.1(1)(a) does not apply to a person who circumvents a technological protection measure that is subject to that paragraph for the sole purpose of, with the consent of the owner or administrator of a computer, computer system or computer network, assessing the vulnerability of the computer, system or network or correcting any security flaws.

• Marginal note:Services

  (2) Paragraph 41.1(1)(b) does not apply if the services are provided to a person described in subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Technology, device or component

  (3) Paragraph 41.1(1)(c) does not apply if the technology, device or component is manufactured or imported by a person described in subsection (1), or is manufactured, imported, provided — including by selling or renting — offered for sale or rental or distributed as a service provided to that person.

• Marginal note:Non-application

  (4) A person acting in the circumstances referred to in subsection (1) is not entitled to benefit from the exception under that subsection if the person does an act that constitutes an infringement of copyright or an act that contravenes any Act of Parliament or any Act of the legislature of a province.