On June 12, the Conservative government introduced Bill C-61, aimed at decreasing illegal file-sharing over the Internet. The bill is an attempt to renew Canada’s already existing copyright laws and bring it closer to American intellectual property laws.
“The Copyright Act, even with the changes proposed by the government […] remains anti-student,” said Christopher Tabor, the manager of Queen’s Bookstore.
According to the legislation, it will be illegal to download documents and PDFs from online databases. Files accessible through university library systems must be deleted within five days of downloading. Violators of these regulations could be fined up to $500.
Libraries such as Robarts would have to guarantee that only one copy of any document, print or online, can be created per student. Even legal reproductions of a document cannot be transferred to another individual.
As well, libraries would be forced to lock up files and prohibit interlibrary loans through electronic delivery, requiring users to wait for paper copies of documents to be delivered to their library.
“Bill C-61 attempts to provide balance, but misses the boat for ordinary Canadians and over 21 million library users,” said Rob Tiessen, chair of the Canadian Library Association Copyright Committee.
Online lecture notes will be available for a limited amount of time, to students and teachers of the course only, so that it will be illegal to share notes with students in other sections or semesters. Once a course has ended the lecture recordings, notes, and past exams will be destroyed. The bill states that paper documents cannot be reproduced if in an electronic state and digitally encrypted. This will dramatically decrease the efficiency of researching and simplicity of online databases. Copying copyrighted material such as CDs and Powerpoint presentations to portal devices will also be banned. Unless illegally downloaded, consumers are looking at costs of up to 60,000 dollars to fill a portable music player, and none of those songs can be transferred to another computer, Ipod or CD.
“Students recognize the importance of maintaining and enforcing strict policies for copyright infringement,” said Zach Churchill, the director of the Canadian Alliance of Students Associations. “However, these new proposals could seriously stifle an institution’s ability to teach and a student’s ability to learn”.
The bill may never see the light of day. With a possible election in the fall, the bill could die on the order paper of parliament before becoming law.
