SOCAN welcomes the introduction of Bill C-86 by the federal government containing provisions to improve the effectiveness of the Copyright Board of Canada. We are pleased that the Government of Canada has responded to repeated requests from stakeholders, both from users and from rights holders, to create a framework that will help the Copyright Board achieve its goal of rendering more timely decisions.
After increasing the resources available to the Board and filling vacant positions, this procedural reform stands to be yet another step in making the Board more efficient and expeditious.
“With all of the efforts undertaken by government to improve the Copyright Board, all creators should benefit and hopefully see positive results sooner rather than later,” said Eric Baptiste, CEO of SOCAN.
SOCAN wishes to thank the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, the Honourable Navdeep Bains and his colleague the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism, their teams, the Copyright Board and the civil servants involved in the reform of the Copyright Board for their work. SOCAN will continue to assess the proposed changes and work with the government to get this legislation properly finalized as quickly as possible and it can continue to count on our support throughout the process.