Bill C-11 Committee: Final Steps for Copyright Reform in Canada


Tuesday, February 14, 2012 by Sundeep Chauhan (Updated February 17, 2013)


Update: Bill C-11 passed Third Reading in the House of Commons and was given First Reading in the Senate on June 18, 2012. The Bill was then passed by the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce on June 26, 2012. On June 27, 2012 the Committee reported C-11 back to the Senate “without amendment” and on June 29, 2012 the Bill C-11 was passed by the Senate and given Royal Assent. Bill C-11 largely came into force on November 7, 2012 (See Order Fixing Various Dates as the Dates on which Certain Provisions of the Act Come into Force).


On January 30, 2012 Government House leader Peter Van Loan outlined the Government of Canada’s priorities for the upcoming session of Parliament. Surprisingly, he stated that Bill C-11: An Act to amend the Copyright Act was to be passed by April. Given the slow train that has been Copyright reform in Canada this timeline seemed improbable. But based on news coming out of today’s meeting of the Bill C-11 Committee, an April timeline for long awaited reform of the legislative dinosaur that is the Canadian Copyright Act seems highly probable.


Table of Contents


  1. A.Legislative Committee on Bill C-11: The Proceedings

  2. B.Bill C-11 Committee Report & Updated Bill C-11

C. Legislative Committee on Bill C-11: The Witnesses

  1. D.Legislative Committee on Bill C-11: Written Submissions

  2. E.Legislative Committee on Bill C-32: Written Submissions

  3. F.Legislative Committee on Bill C-11: Related Blog



A. Legislative Committee on Bill C-11: The Proceedings


Who can appear as Witnesses?


  1. •The Bill C-11 Committee met February 16, 2012 from 9:00 to 11:00 to consider the initial witness list

  2. •The Bill C-11 Committee will not allow the re-appearance of witnesses who already appeared during the Bill C-32 hearings

  3. •Bill C-32 witnesses can however append their original submissions


How will testimony happen?


  1. •Bill C-11 Committee meetings were divided into two 90 minute blocks

  2. •Witnesses appeared as panels in groups of three

  3. •Opening statements at the Bill C-11 Committee meetings were 10 minutes with 5 minutes of questions

  4. •Committee meetings were be televised (links to streams below)


What was the schedule for the Committee?


  1. •Committee meetings commenced February 27, 2012

  2. •The Bill C-11 Committee held four meetings a week:

  3. ‣Monday 3:30 to 6:30

  4. ‣Tuesday 9:00 to 12:00

  5. ‣Wednesday 3:30 to 6:30, and

  6. ‣Thursday 9:00 to 12:00


Most significantly, a motion for time limits on the Committee (to be concluded by March 14) and the Clause by Clause (to be concluded by March 29) was passed.


Clause-by-clause began on Monday, March 12, 2012 and was concluded on Tuesday, March 13, 2012.



  1. B.Bill C-11 Committee Report & Updated Bill C-11


A number of technical amendments were made to the Bill.  A copy of the amended Bill C-11 is available here.  The C-11 Committee’s Report on the amendments is here.



C. Legislative Committee on Bill C-11: The Witnesses


The Legislative Committee on Bill C-11 saw the following witnesses:


Monday, February 27, 2012

  1. •As an individual, James Gannon, McCarthy Tetrault

  2. •As an individual, Jeremy DeBeer, Professor, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law

  3. •As an individual, Sam Trosow, Associate Professor, University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law

  4. •Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians

  5. •Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators

  6. •Canadian Photographers Coalition


  1. Stream of Testimony Available Here


Tuesday, February 28, 2012

  1. •Canadian Federation of Musicians

  2. •Pineridge Broadcasting Group

  3. •Re:Sound

  4. •Association nationale des éditeurs de livres

  5. •Canadian School Boards Association

  6. •Association of Canadian Community Colleges


  1. Stream of Testimony Available Here


Wednesday, February 29, 2012

  1. •Canadian Independent Music Association

  2. •Canadian Artists Representation Copyright Collective Inc.

  3. •Canadian Consumer Initiative

  4. •Audio Cine Films Inc.

  5. •Criterion Pictures

  6. •Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma


  1. Stream of Testimony Available Here


Thursday, March 1, 2012

  1. •CHUM Radio

  2. •Ole  (written submission to C-32 Committee linked below)

  3. •Canadian Council of Archives

  4. •Corus Entertainment Inc.

  5. •Coalition des ayants droit musicaux sur Internet

  6. •Google Inc.


  1. Stream of Testimony Available Here


Monday, March 5, 2012

  1. •Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Canada

  2. •Tucows Inc.

  3. •Shaw Communications

  4. •Epitome Pictures Inc.

  5. •Directors Guild of Canada

  6. •Writers' Union of Canada


  1. Stream of Testimony Available Here


Tuesday, March 6, 2012

  1. •Canadian Music Publishers' Association

  2. •Audio-Video Licensing Agency Inc.

  3. •Société professionelle des auteurs et compositeurs du Québec

  4. •Canadian Educational Resources Council

  5. •Canadian Publishers' Council

  6. •Canadian Association of Law Libraries


  1. Stream of Testimony Available Here


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

  1. •Recording Artist' Collecting Society

  2. •Artists Legal Outreach and Education Society (BC)

  3. •Microsoft Canada

  4. •Business Software Alliance


  1. Stream of Testimony Available Here


Witnesses Who Were Approved by Bill C-11 Committee But Did Not Appear

  1. •As an individual, Amy Joanna Piper, Law professor, McGill University

  2. •Arts & Crafts

  3. •Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright

  4. •Canadian Association of Graduate Studies

  5. •Canadian Association of Internet Providers

  6. •Canadian Federation of Independent Business

  7. •Canadian Home and School Federation

  8. •Canadian Intellectual Property Council

  9. •Coalition des ayants droit musicaux sur Internet

  10. •Coalition for Cultural Diversity

  11. •Conférence des recteurs et des principaux des universités du Québec

  12. •eBay Canada

  13. •Electronic Arts Canada

  14. •Information Technology Association of Canada

  15. •Jim Patteson Group

  16. •Minister of Culture, Communications and Status of Women - Quebec

  17. •Public Interest Advocacy Centre

  18. •Quebecor Media Inc.

  19. •Rawlco Radio

  20. •Société de développement des entreprises culturelles

  21. •Ubisoft



D. Legislative Committee on Bill C-11: Written Submissions


The written briefs received by the Bill C-11 Committee have now been posted on the Parliamentary Website:


  1. •Access Copyright (PDF)

  2. •Arial, Tracey (PDF)

  3. •Art Dealers Association of Canada (PDF)

  4. •Association des galeries d'art contemporain (PDF)

  5. •Association nationale des editeurs de livres (Document 1) (PDF)

  6. •Association nationale des editeurs de Livres (Document 2) (PDF)

  7. •Association of Canadian Community Colleges (PDF)

  8. •Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (PDF)

  9. •Audio Cine Films Inc (PDF)

  10. •AVLA Audio-Video Licensing Agency Inc. (PDF)

  11. •Banel, Joe (PDF)

  12. •Bayley, Linda (PDF)

  13. •Boer, Faye (PDF)

  14. •Burke, Kathryn (PDF)

  15. •Bush, C. Dana (PDF)

  16. •Cameron, Alex (PDF)

  17. •Campbell, Rob (PDF)

  18. •Canadian Association of Broadcasters (Document 1) (PDF)

  19. •Canadian Association of Broadcasters (Document 2) (PDF)

  20. •Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators (PDF)

  21. •Canadian Association of Research Libraries (PDF)

  22. •Canadian Conference of the Arts (PDF)

  23. •Canadian Consumer Initiative (Document 1) (PDF)

  24. •Canadian Council of Music Industry Associations (PDF)

  25. •Canadian Educational Resources Council (PDF)

  26. •Canadian Educational Resources Council (Document 1) (PDF)

  27. •Canadian Educational Resources Council (Document 2) (PDF)

  28. •Canadian Federation of Musicians (PDF)

  29. •Canadian Historical Association (PDF)

  30. •Canadian Independent Music Association (PDF)

  31. •Canadian Library Association (PDF)

  32. •Canadian Library Association (Document ) (PDF)

  33. •Canadian Media Production Association (PDF)

  34. •Canadian Music Publishers Association (PDF)

  35. •Canadian Photographers Coalition (PDF)

  36. •Canadian Private Copying Collective (PDF)

  37. •Canadian Publishers' Council (PDF)

  38. •Canadian Publishers' Council (Document 1) (PDF)

  39. •Canadian Publishers' Council (Document 2) (PDF)

  40. •Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers (PDF)

  41. •Chapman, Patrick (PDF)

  42. •Clark-Beattie, Rosemary (PDF)

  43. •Coalition des ayants droit musicaux sur Internet (PDF)

  44. •Corus Entertainment Inc. (PDF)

  45. •Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (PDF)

  46. •Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (PDF)

  47. •Criterion Pictures (PDF)

  48. •Curteis, Eileen (PDF)

  49. •Documentary Organization of Canada (PDF)

  50. •Documentary Organization of Canada (Document 1) (PDF)

  51. •Documentary Organization of Canada (Document 2) (PDF)

  52. •Doerksen, Brad (PDF)

  53. •Dulle, Justine (PDF)

  54. •Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (PDF)

  55. •Fraser, Sylvia (PDF)

  56. •Google Inc. (PDF)

  57. •Grady, Matt (PDF)

  58. •Hale, Michael (PDF)

  59. •Hardin, Herschel (PDF)

  60. •International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (PDF)

  61. •Jim Pattison Broadcast Group (PDF)

  62. •Katz, Ariel (PDF)

  63. •Kelly, Arthur (PDF)

  64. •Krinke, Justin (PDF)

  65. •Krismer, Peter (PDF)

  66. •Lee, Andrea (PDF)

  67. •Lemay, Chris (PDF)

  68. •McOrmond, Russell (Document 1) (PDF)

  69. •McOrmond, Russell (Document 2) (PDF)

  70. •Mermelstein, Judith (PDF)

  71. •Moore, Brendan (PDF)

  72. •Morgan, Bernice (PDF)

  73. •Noble, Ellen (PDF)

  74. •ole (PDF)

  75. •Palmer, Allyn (PDF)

  76. •Price, Laurence (PDF)

  77. •Re:Sound Music Licensing Company (Document 1) (PDF)

  78. •Re:Sound Music Licensing Company (Document 2) (PDF)

  79. •Re:Sound Music Licensing Company (Document 3) (PDF)

  80. •Rogers Communications Inc. (PDF)

  81. •Roomy, David (PDF)

  82. •Salomons, Stephen (PDF)

  83. •Shaw Communications Inc. (PDF)

  84. •Smith, Russell (PDF)

  85. •Société professionnelle des auteurs et des compositeurs du Québec (PDF)

  86. •Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Canada (PDF)

  87. •Stingray Digital (PDF)

  88. •Streifling, Jeffrey (PDF)

  89. •Sylvestre, Danielle (PDF)

  90. •Tauriainen, Jake (PDF)

  91. •van Stelten, Rosalee (PDF)

  92. •Winseck, Dwayne (PDF)

  93. •Writers Guild of Alberta (PDF)

  94. •Writers Guild of Canada (Document 1) (PDF)

  95. •Writers Guild of Canada (Document 2) (PDF)

  96. •Writers' Union of Canada (Document 1) (PDF)

  97. •Writers' Union of Canada (Document 2) (PDF)



E. Legislative Committee on Bill C-32: Written Submissions


The written briefs received by the Bill C-32 Committee have now been posted on the Parliamentary Website. Links to the .PDF’s of the submissions are also reproduced below:


  1. •ArtistI (PDF)

  2. •Artists' Legal Outreach (PDF)

  3. •Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec (PDF)

  4. •Association of Canadian Advertisers (PDF)

  5. •Association of Canadian Community Colleges (PDF)

  6. •Association of Canadian Publishers (PDF)

  7. •Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (PDF)

  8. •Association pour l'avancement des sciences et des techniques de la documentation (PDF)

  9. •Astral Media Inc (PDF)

  10. •Audio Cine Films Inc (PDF)

  11. •Bagg, Jonathan (PDF)

  12. •Barker, Scott (PDF)

  13. •Barreau du Québec (PDF)

  14. •Barry, John (PDF)

  15. •BattleGoat Studios (PDF)

  16. •Betteridge, Jesse (PDF)

  17. •Borean, Wayne (PDF)

  18. •Brand, Chris (PDF)

  19. •British Columbia Association of Broadcasters (PDF, , )

  20. •Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright (PDF)

  21. •Canadian Artists' Representation (PDF)

  22. •Canadian Association of Broadcasters (PDF, , )

  23. •Canadian Association of Disability Service Providers in Post-Secondary Education (PDF)

  24. •Canadian Association of Law Libraries (PDF)

  25. •Canadian Association of Research Libraries (PDF)

  26. •Canadian Association of University Teachers (PDF, , )

  27. •Canadian Bar Association (PDF)

  28. •Canadian Civil Liberties Association (PDF)

  29. •Canadian Council of Archives (PDF)

  30. •Canadian Educational Resources Council (PDF, , )

  31. •Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (PDF)

  32. •Canadian Federation of Musicians (PDF)

  33. •Canadian Federation of Students (PDF)

  34. •Canadian Home and School Federation (PDF)

  35. •Canadian Intellectual Property Council (PDF)

  36. •Canadian Library Association (PDF)

  37. •Canadian Museums Association (PDF)

  38. •Canadian National Institute for the Blind (PDF)

  39. •Canadian Private Copying Collective (PDF)

  40. •Canadian School Boards Association (PDF)

  41. •Canadian Teachers' Federation (PDF, , )

  42. •Chapdelaine, Pascale (PDF)

  43. •CHUM Radio (PDF)

  44. •CMRRA-SODRAC Inc. (CSI) (PDF, , )

  45. •Coalition des ayants droit musicaux sur Internet (PDF)

  46. •Cooper, James (PDF)

  47. •Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (PDF, , )

  48. •Creators' Copyright Coalition (PDF)

  49. •Crevier, Marc (PDF)

  50. •Crouser, Joe (PDF)

  51. •Cullum, Paul (PDF)

  52. •Cutforth, Taylor (PDF)

  53. •Demeny, Mark (PDF)

  54. •Department of Industry (Document ) (PDF, , )

  55. •Department of Industry (Document ) (PDF, , )

  56. •Doctorow, Cory (PDF)

  57. •Documentary Organization of Canada (PDF)

  58. •Elrick, Bruce (PDF)

  59. •Entertainment Software Association of Canada (PDF)

  60. •Epitome Pictures Inc. (PDF)

  61. •Faassen, Mark (PDF)

  62. •Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec (FCSQ) (PDF)

  63. •Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (PDF)

  64. •Fernandes, Andrew (PDF)

  65. •Flather, Patti (PDF)

  66. •Flynn, Sean (PDF)

  67. •Fordham, Wayne Michael (PDF)

  68. •Franek, Jacob (PDF)

  69. •Fraser, Brian (PDF)

  70. •Fredericton Public Library (PDF)

  71. •Freynet, Raphael (PDF)

  72. •Funk, Harold (PDF)

  73. •Gannon, James (PDF)

  74. •Gault, Randy (PDF)

  75. •Geczy, George (PDF)

  76. •Geissler, Colin (PDF)

  77. •Geist, Michael (PDF)

  78. •Glass Geoffrey (PDF)

  79. •Gold, Rachel (PDF)

  80. •Gouin, Judy (PDF)

  81. •Greiner, Brian (PDF)

  82. •Guilde des musiciens et musiciennes du Québec (PDF)

  83. •Hayes eLaw LLP (PDF)

  84. •Hindle, Abram (PDF)

  85. •House of Anansi Press Inc (PDF)

  86. •Information Technology Association of Canada (PDF)

  87. •Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (PDF)

  88. •International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (PDF, , )

  89. •International Association of Arts Critics (PDF)

  90. •International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (PDF)

  91. •International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (PDF)

  92. •International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (PDF)

  93. •Jackson, Alex (PDF)

  94. •Janes, Robert J (PDF)

  95. •Jiwan, Rizwan (PDF)

  96. •Jones, David T (PDF)

  97. •Julien, Frederic (PDF)

  98. •Lam, David (PDF)

  99. •Lam, Kampton (PDF)

  100. •Lavigne, Carlen (PDF)

  101. •Lawton, Michael (PDF)

  102. •Liedl, Janice (PDF)

  103. •Lin, Isaac (PDF)

  104. •Localshow.tv (PDF)

  105. •MacCallum, Tavis (PDF)

  106. •Mackay, Julia (PDF)

  107. •MapleMusic (PDF)

  108. •McGrath, William (PDF)

  109. •McOrmond, Russell (PDF)

  110. •Media Awareness Network (PDF)

  111. •Meredith, Don (PDF)

  112. •Michal, Carl (PDF)

  113. •Millar, Jason (PDF)

  114. •Moore, Brendan (PDF)

  115. •Morrison, Heather (PDF)

  116. •Morrow, Robert (PDF)

  117. •Nair, Meera (PDF)

  118. •National Gallery of Canada (PDF)

  119. •Newcap Radio Inc. (PDF, , )

  120. •Nicolson, Ryan (PDF)

  121. •Nijjar, Paul (PDF)

  122. •O'Hagan, James R (PDF)

  123. •ole (PDF)

  124. •Ontario Association of Broadcasters (PDF)

  125. •Oren, Alex (PDF)

  126. •Ortenburger, Art (PDF)

  127. •Outdoor Writers of Canada (PDF)

  128. •Pardoe, Nancy (PDF)

  129. •Payne, Richard (PDF)

  130. •Plesz, Karl (PDF)

  131. •Poole, Corey (PDF)

  132. •Professional Writers Association of Canada (PDF)

  133. •Project Gutenberg Canada (PDF)

  134. •Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired (PRCVI) (PDF)

  135. •Rawlco Radio (PDF)

  136. •Redick, Kevin (PDF)

  137. •Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec (PDF)

  138. •Renaud, Bernadette (PDF)

  139. •Retail Council of Canada (PDF)

  140. •Ross, Rosalind (PDF)

  141. •Russwurm, Laurel (PDF)

  142. •Salomons, Stephen (PDF)

  143. •Savulescu, Alex (PDF)

  144. •Schneider, Kevin (PDF)

  145. •Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (PDF)

  146. •Société québécoise de gestion collective des droits de reproduction (PDF)

  147. •Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (PDF)

  148. •Sokolov, Daniel (PDF)

  149. •Splint, Steven (PDF)

  150. •Stevens, Marc (PDF)

  151. •Streifling, Jeffrey (PDF)

  152. •Struble, Brad (PDF)

  153. •Taylor, Gordon (PDF)

  154. •Trottier, Tom (PDF)

  155. •Tye, Trevor (PDF)

  156. •Union des artistes (UDA) (PDF)

  157. •Union des consommateurs (PDF)

  158. •Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois (UNEQ) (PDF)

  159. •Vachon, Nicole (PDF)

  160. •Visual Education Centre Limited (PDF)

  161. •Walsh, Don (PDF)

  162. •Watson, Barbara (PDF)

  163. •Wharrie, Bill (PDF)

  164. •Williams, Ian (PDF)

  165. •Willison, Grant (PDF)

  166. •Winegust, Tamara (PDF)

  167. •Writers on Bill C-32 (PDF)

  168. •Writers' Union of Canada (PDF)



F. Legislative Committee on Bill C-11: Related Blog


Bill C-32 : What have we heard so far? (Summary of Bill C-32 Legislative Committee Proceedings)










Copyright © 2013 Sundeep Chauhan All rights reserved.    Terms of Use

Blog Entries


Crown Not Immune to Copyright Tariffs: Copyright Board of Canada issues reasoning in Access Copyright – Provincial and Territorial Governments Tariffs (2005-2014)

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

On March 15, 2012 the Copyright Board of Canada released its reasons in a preliminary ruling concerning the ability of Access Copyright to seek a tariff for reproductions of literary works by government employees...


Bill C-11 Committee: Final Steps for Copyright Reform in Canada?

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

On January 30, 2012 Government House leader Peter Van Loan outlined the Government of Canada’s priorities for the upcoming session of Parliament. Surprisingly, he stated that Bill C-11: An Act to amend the Copyright Act was to be passed by April....


2013 Copyright Tariff Report Vol.1 – Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) files Tariff Proposal with the Copyright Board of Canada”

Monday, February 13, 2012

In this first issue of the 2013 Copyright Tariff Report we look at the proposal published in the Canada Gazette on February 11, 2012 by the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) for private copying...


Content is Key: Supreme Court rules ISPs are not “Broadcast Undertakings”

Thursday, February 9, 2012

In a swift and short ruling (3 weeks & 11 paragraphs), the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an appeal from a judgment of the Federal Court of Appeal brought by the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) and Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) (collectively the “Coalition”)...


The Supreme Court of Canada Copyright Pentalogy

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

On December 6-7, 2011 the Supreme Court of Canada heard five copyright-related cases in respect of collective licensing.  Each of the five matters relate to applications from judicial review of decisions of the Copyright Board of Canada ...


2012 Copyright Tariff Report Vol.4 – The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) files its Tariff Proposals with the Copyright Board of Canada

Thursday, June 2, 2011

In this fourth issue of the 2012 Copyright Tariff Report we look at the 2012 proposals published in the Canada Gazette on May 28, 2011 by SOCAN ...


2012 Copyright Tariff Report Vol.3 – AVLA/SOPROQ, ACTRA PRS/MROC, and ArtistI file Tariff Proposals with the Copyright Board of Canada

Thursday, May 26, 2011

In this third issue of the 2012 Copyright Tariff Report we look at the 2012 proposals published in the Canada Gazette on May 21, 2011 by AVLA/SOPROQ, ACTRA PRS/MROC and ArtistI for reproductions by commercial radio stations ...


2012 Copyright Tariff Report Vol.2 - Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC), Educational Rights Collective of Canada (ERCC), and The Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Canada (SODRAC) file Tariff Proposals with the Copyright Board of Canada

Monday, May 16, 2011

In this second issue of the 2012 Copyright Tariff Report we look at the 2012 proposals published in the Canada Gazette on May 14, 2011 by CPCC for private copying, ERCC for educational rights and SODRAC for music videos ...


2012 Copyright Tariff Report Vol.1 - CSI files its Tariff Proposals with the Copyright Board of Canada

Monday, May 2, 2011

In this first issue of the 2012 Copyright Tariff Report we look at the proposals published in the Canada Gazette on April 30, 2011 applicable to Online Music Services and Non-Commercial Radio Stations by CMRRA-SODRAC Inc. (CSI) ...


Bill C-32 : What have we heard so far?

Monday, March 7, 2011

On June 2, 2010 the Federal Government tabled Bill C-32: the Copyright Modernization Act in Parliament (Bill C-32). Bill C-32 represents ...

About Us

Designated by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Certified Specialist (Intellectual Property: Copyright), Sundeep Chauhan is currently Director, Content Protection Operations - Internet (Canada) ...  (read more) 

eLawNetwork.comhttp://www.eLawNetwork.comindex.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0