
Last week I discussed Article 20.62 of the new NAFTA (aka USMCA, or CUSMA if you are Canadian) that commits Canada to extend its term of copyright protection from life of the author plus 50 years to “life + 70” (for those works where protection is measured by the life of the author, which applies to the vast majority of creative works), bringing it into alignment with the US, EU and many other countries. Copyright minimalists in Canada oppose this change, although they are probably reconciled to it happening as part of the broader USMCA agreed to by Canada, the US and Mexico. (Now that the Agreement has passed the US Congress, all that remains is for the Canadian Parliament to pass its implementing legislation, and for the Agreement to be signed into law in the US and Canada. Canada will introduce legislation this week.) The new Agreement is likely to come into effect sometime this spring, although Canada has up to 2.5 years from the date of entry into force of USMCA/CUSMA to implement the copyright extension provisions. Continue reading “Copyright Term Extension in Canada: Facts versus “Fake News””