Copyright Act

Marginal note:Provision of information to pursue remedy

• 44.04 (1) A customs officer who is detaining copies of a work or other subject-matter under section 101 of the Customs Act and who has reasonable grounds to suspect that the importation or exportation of the copies is prohibited under section 44.01 may, in the officer’s discretion, if the Minister has accepted a request for assistance with respect to the work or subject-matter filed by the owner of copyright in it, provide that owner with a sample of the copies and with information about the copies that could assist them in pursuing a remedy under this Act, such as

  • (a) a description of the copies and of their characteristics;

  • (b) the name and address of their owner, importer, exporter and consignee and of the person who made them;

  • (c) their quantity;

  • (d) the countries in which they were made and through which they passed in transit; and

  • (e) the day on which they were imported, if applicable.

• Marginal note:Detention

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), the customs officer shall not detain, for the purpose of enforcing section 44.01, the copies for more than 10 working days  —  or, if the copies are perishable, for more than five days  —  after the day on which the customs officer first sends or makes available a sample or information to the copyright owner under subsection (1). At the request of the copyright owner made while the copies are detained for the purpose of enforcing section 44.01, the customs officer may, having regard to the circumstances, detain non-perishable copies for one additional period of not more than 10 working days.

• Marginal note:Notice of proceedings

  (3) If, before the copies are no longer detained for the purpose of enforcing section 44.01, the owner of copyright has provided the Minister, in the manner specified by the Minister, with a copy of a document filed with a court commencing proceedings to obtain a remedy under this Act with respect to the detained copies, the customs officer shall continue to detain them until the Minister is informed in writing that

  • (a) the proceedings are finally disposed of, settled or abandoned;

  • (b) a court directs that the copies are no longer to be detained for the purpose of the proceedings; or

  • (c) the copyright owner consents to the copies no longer being so detained.

• Marginal note:Continued detention

  (4) The occurrence of any of the events referred to in paragraphs (3)(a) to (c) does not preclude a customs officer from continuing to detain the copies under the Customs Act for a purpose other than the proceedings.