Copyright debate cut short for second time

The Harper government has reached for the hammer once more to limit debate on a piece of priority legislation.

C-11, the government's bill to change the Copyright Act, was up for its first day of debate at report stage Monday when Government House Leader Peter Van Loan gave notice of a motionto limit debate on the final stages of the bill.

The time allocation motion passed Tuesday morning.

It's the second time Van Loan has intervenedto speed thepassage of C-11; in early February, the government limited debate at second reading.

The Copyright Act has not been updated since 1997.Changes were promised in the Conservatives' re-election platform, to "make Canada a leader in the global digital economy" and align Canada "with international standards."

When C-11 was introduced in September, Heritage Minister James Moore suggested it would be passedbefore Christmas.

While manyelements of the complex and wide-ranging legislationwere well-received and seen as overdue, some artists remain concerned about lost revenue with the proposed changes.

C-11'sprovisions on "digital locks," used to prevent unauthorized copying and distribution, have been criticized as too restrictive, particularly for individuals or educational institutions.

Moore says the bill successfully balances competing interests and has dismissed its critics, even refering to opponents last Juneas"radical extremists."

Bill amended at committee

C-11mirrors legislation from the previous Parliament that died when the 2011 election was called. ACommons committee was reviewing the legislation at the time, and Moore suggested thatre-introducing the exact same billwould make it easier for a new committee to pick up where the previous one left off.

In fact, while the special Commons committee to review C-11 was formedpromptlylast fall,the vote at second reading(to send it to committee for study) didn't happen until February.

After that, the committee met 11 times,hearing fromexpertwitnesses and reporting back to the House March 15.

Conservative MPs brought forward eight amendments and used their majority on the committee to pass them, while defeating otherNDP and Liberal amendments.

The amendments reported back to the Commons aremostly technical. Ina fewplaces, MPs were told,the changes bring the bill more in line with industry standards.

In one instance, an amendment clarifies "private use" as applying to one individual, not a small group of family or friends.

Another provisionin C-11 seeks to protectdisabled individuals ororganizations acting on their behalf from Copyright Act violations when amending digital property to improve its accessibility(addingcaptioning or descriptive video, for example).A government amendment to strengthen this provisionhad opposition support at committee, although MPs argued it did not go far enough.

A further amendment attempts to clarifythe much-discussed "notice" provisions that wouldrequire internet service providers to notify customers who may be violating copyright, including changing the requirement to do so from "without delay" to "as soon as feasible."

One finalday of debate left

Bloc MP Andr Bellavance and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, who were not on the special committee that studied C-11, introducedmoreamendments during the report stage debate Monday.

The Speaker allowed someopposition amendments to stand because they were sufficiently different from those considered at committee. But after thereport stage debate ended on Tuesday evening, the House voted down allthe opposition amendments, one by one.

Later on Tuesday evening, the Housevoted toconcur with the committee's amendments and the bill passed at report stage.

When Van Loan proposed time allocation for the second time Monday,he noted the bill wason its 11th day of debate in the House, and reminded MPs the bill had been the subject of "extensive hearings" in the current and previous Parliament, hearing from "almost 200 witnesses."

The final day of debate at third reading and the final Commons vote before the bill moves on to the Senate have not been scheduled.