COPYRIGHT REGULATIONS

Regulations Amending the Regulations Establishing the Period for Royalty Entitlements of Non-members of Collecting Bodies (Miscellaneous Program)

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REGULATIONS
Copyright Act

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Ottawa, June 9, 2004

The Copyright Board, pursuant to paragraph 76(4)(b)^a of the Copyright Act, hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Regulations Establishing the Period for Royalty Entitlements of Non-members of Collecting Bodies (Miscellaneous Program).

1. The title of the Regulations Establishing the Period for Royalty Entitlements of Non-members of Collecting Bodies¹ is replaced by the following:

2. Section 1 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

1. The owner of copyright who does not authorize a collective society to collect, for that person's benefit, the royalties referred to in paragraph 31(2)(d) of the Copyright Act and whose work is so retransmitted has a period of two years following the end of the calendar year in which the retransmission occurred to claim the royalties payable under subsection 76(1) of that Act.

3. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

^a S.C. 1997, c. 24, s.50
¹ SOR/97-164

Description

Under the Copyright Act (the Act), the right to retransmit a work on a radio or television signal is subject to a compulsory licensing scheme according to which the Copyright Board sets the royalties to be paid to collective societies representing the owners of rights in the retransmitted works.

Section 76 of the Act provides that a copyright owner who does not authorize a collective society to act on the owner's behalf [a so-called "orphan" owner] can seek payment for the use of the work from the society that is designated by the Board for that purpose. Subparagraph 76(4)(b)(v) also provides that the Board can establish, by regulation, the periods within which this entitlement must be exercised. The Board made such regulations on March 19, 1997.

Amendments to the Act made in 1997 and 2003 renumber the provisions dealing with retransmission. The March 19, 1997 regulations contains a reference to this section.

Amendments made in 1997 which broaden the scope of sections 71 to 76 of the Act also make it necessary to be more specific about the ambit of the March 19, 1997 regulations by indicating that they only target retransmission and not other acts that are now subject to sections 71 to 76.

Finally, the March 19, 1997 regulations contain a provision dealing with any retransmission made before January 1, 1997. That provision is now obsolete.

It is therefore necessary to amend the Regulations so as to reflect those changes. The Board also took advantage of this opportunity to modernize the wording of the Regulations.

Alternatives

There are no alternatives to the proposed solution.

Benefits and Costs

Making the regulations ensures consistency with the Act, as amended. Making the regulations entails no additional cost for the Administration or the public, has no impact on the environment and does not increase the regulatory burden.

Consultation

As these are "miscellaneous provisions" Regulations dealing with purely technical amendments, no consultation is necessary. For the same reasons, no early notice of the proposed Regulations was pre-published.

Contact

Claude Majeau
Secretary General
Copyright Board of Canada
56 Sparks Street, Suite 800
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C9
Telephone: (613) 952-8621
Facsimile: (613) 952-8630
Electronic mail: majeau.claude@cb-cda.gc.ca