Feds owe it to Canadian public to address the harm caused by copyright term extension

Only a miniscule percentage of copyright owners will benefit from an extra 20 years of protection, meanwhile, the rest of us lose unless balancing measures are taken. The government owes it to the Canadian public to ensure broad access to cultural heritage.

Extending the term of copyright 'pauses' the public domain for 20 years, impacting works created both in Canada and abroad. As a result, millions of copyrighted works will not enter the public domain for many years, including those created by prominent Canadians such as Glenn Gould, left, Lester Pearson, Marshall McLuhan, and Gabrielle Roy. Photographs courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Opinion

BY MARK SWARTZ

January 19, 2023

KINGSTON, ONT.—What seems like a small and benign change to the Copyright Act will have a disastrous impact on Canadian culture over the next 20 years.

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