Copyright Act
Transitional Provision
First Session, Forty-second Parliament,
64-65 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016
HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA
BILL C-299
An Act to amend the Copyright Act (term of copyright)
FIRST READING, JUNE 17, 2016
Mr. Van Loan
421166
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the Copyright Act to modify the terms of certain copyrights.
Available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address:
http://www.parl.gc.ca
1st Session, 42nd Parliament, 
64-65 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016
HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA
BILL C-299
An Act to amend the Copyright Act (term of copyright)
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
R.‍S.‍, c. C-42
Copyright Act
1 Section 6 of the Copyright Act is replaced by the following: 
Term of copyright
6 The term for which copyright shall subsist shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, be the life of the author, the remainder of the calendar year in which the author dies, and a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year.
2 Paragraphs 6.‍1(a) and (b) of the Act are replaced by the following: 
(a) a term consisting of the remainder of the calendar year of the first publication of the work and a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year, and
(b) a term consisting of the remainder of the calendar year of the making of the work and a period of 100 years following the end of that calendar year,
3 Paragraphs 6.‍2(a) and (b) of the Act are replaced by the following: 
(a) a term consisting of the remainder of the calendar year of the first publication of the work and a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year, and
(b) a term consisting of the remainder of the calendar year of the making of the work and a period of 100 years following the end of that calendar year,
4 (1) Subsections 7(1) and (2) of the Act are replaced by the following:
Term of copyright in posthumous works
7 (1) Subject to subsection (2), in the case of a literary, dramatic or musical work, or an engraving, in which copyright subsists at the date of the death of the author or, in the case of a work of joint authorship, at or immediately before the date of the death of the author who dies last, but which has not been published or, in the case of a lecture or a dramatic or musical work, been performed in public or communicated to the public by telecommunication, before that date, copyright shall subsist until publication, or performance in public or communication to the public by telecommunication, whichever may first happen, for the remainder of the calendar year of the publication or of the performance in public or communication to the public by telecommunication, as the case may be, and for a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year.
Application of subsection (1)
(2) Subsection (1) applies only if the work in question was published or performed in public or communicated to the public by telecommunication, as the case may be, before the coming into force of subsection (1).
(2) The portion of subsection 7(3) of the French version of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Disposition transitoire
(3) L’œuvre, qu’elle soit ou non publiée, ou exécutée ou représentée en public ou communiquée au public par télécommunication après le 31 décembre 1998, continue d’être protégée par le droit d’auteur jusqu’au 31 décembre 2068, dans le cas où :
(3) The portion of subsection 7(3) of the Act after paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:
(c) the relevant death referred to in subsection (1) occurred during the period of 70 years before December 31, 1998, 
copyright shall subsist in the work until December 31, 2068, whether or not the work is published or performed in public or communicated to the public by telecommunication after December 31, 1998.
(4) Subsection 7(4) of the Act is repealed.
5 Subsection 9(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Cases of joint authorship
9 (1) In the case of a work of joint authorship, except as provided in section 6.‍2, copyright shall subsist during the life of the author who dies last, for the remainder of the calendar year of that author’s death, and for a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year, and references in this Act to the period after the expiration of any specified number of years from the end of the calendar year of the death of the author shall be construed as references to the period after the expiration of the like number of years from the end of the calendar year of the death of the author who dies last.
6 Paragraphs 11.‍1(a) and (b) of the Act are replaced by the following:
(a) for the remainder of the calendar year of the first publication of the cinematographic work or of the compilation, and for a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year; or
(b) if the cinematographic work or compilation is not published before the expiration of 70 years following the end of the calendar year of its making, for the remainder of that calendar year and for a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year.
7 Section 12 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Where copyright belongs to Her Majesty
12 Without prejudice to any rights or privileges of the Crown, where any work is, or has been, prepared or published by or under the direction or control of Her Majesty or any government department, the copyright in the work shall, subject to any agreement with the author, belong to Her Majesty and in that case shall continue for the remainder of the calendar year of the first publication of the work and for a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year.
Transitional Provision
No Revival of copyright
8 Section 6, paragraphs 6.‍1(a) and (b) and 6.‍2(a) and (b), subsections 7(1) and 9(1), paragraphs 11.‍1(a) and (b) and section 12 of the Copyright Act, as enacted by this Act, do not have the effect of reviving a copyright or a right to remuneration in a work in which the copyright or the right to remuneration had expired on the coming into force of this Act.
Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons