The Copyright Board’s Legal History Making

The Copyright Board is far more than a rate-setting body; it is heavily involved in either making or implementing copyright policy. While Parliament and the courts have, and exercise, the power to determine the law, increasingly these bodies are relying on the Board to apply the law in practice.  The Copyright Board is probably the most practically important copyright institution in Canada, though too few people realize the breadth or depth of its impact.

I explored the role of the Canadian Copyright Board in a presentation entitled, “20 Years of Legal History at the Copyright Board of Canada,” at the Association Littéraire et Artistique Internationale’s Annual Conference in Ottawa.

20 Years of Legal History at the Copyright Board of Canada by Jeremy de Beer