Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42)

Marginal note:Interim decisions

66.51 The Board may, on application, make an interim decision.

Marginal note:Variation of decisions

66.52 A decision of the Board respecting royalties or their related terms and conditions that is made under subsection 70(1), 71(2), 76.1(1) or 83(8) may, on application, be varied by the Board if, in its opinion, there has been a material change in circumstances since the decision was made.

Marginal note:Regulations

• 66.6 (1) The Board may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations governing

  • (a) the practice and procedure in respect of the Board’s hearings, including the number of members of the Board that constitutes a quorum;

  • (b) the time and manner in which applications and notices must be made or given;

  • (c) the establishment of forms for the making or giving of applications and notices; and

  • (d) the carrying out of the work of the Board, the management of its internal affairs and the duties of its officers and employees.

• Marginal note:Case management

  (1.1) The Board may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations governing the case management of matters before the Board, including regulations

  • (a) governing the directions a case manager may give and the orders they may make; and

  • (b) authorizing a case manager to give a direction or make an order that adapts, restricts or excludes the application of any provision of regulations made under subsection (1) to a matter or any step in a matter.

• Marginal note:Publication of proposed regulations

  (2) A copy of each regulation that the Board proposes to make under subsection (1) or (1.1) shall be published in the Canada Gazette at least 60 days before the regulation’s proposed effective date, and a reasonable opportunity shall be given to interested persons to make representations with respect to the regulation.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) No proposed regulation that has been published pursuant to subsection (2) need again be published under that subsection, whether or not it has been altered as a result of representations made with respect thereto.

Marginal note:General powers, etc.

• 66.7 (1) The Board has, with respect to the attendance, swearing and examination of witnesses, the production and inspection of documents, the enforcement of its decisions and other matters necessary or proper for the due exercise of its jurisdiction, all such powers, rights and privileges as are vested in a superior court of record.

• Marginal note:Enforcement of decisions

  (2) Any decision of the Board may, for the purposes of its enforcement, be made an order of the Federal Court or of any superior court and is enforceable in the same manner as an order thereof.

• Marginal note:Procedure

  (3) To make a decision of the Board an order of a court, the usual practice and procedure of the court in such matters may be followed or a certified copy of the decision may be filed with the registrar of the court and thereupon the decision becomes an order of the court.

• Marginal note:Effect of variation of decision

  (4) Where a decision of the Board that has been made an order of a court is varied by a subsequent decision of the Board, the order of the court shall be deemed to have been varied accordingly and the subsequent decision may, in the same manner, be made an order of the court.

Marginal note:Distribution, publication of notices

66.71 Independently of any other provision of this Act relating to the distribution or publication of information or documents by the Board, the Board may at any time cause to be distributed or published, in any manner and on any terms and conditions that it sees fit, any notice that it sees fit to be distributed or published.

Marginal note:Studies

66.8 The Board shall conduct such studies with respect to the exercise of its powers as are requested by the Minister.

Marginal note:Report

• 66.9 (1) The Board shall, not later than August 31 in each year, submit to the Governor in Council through the Minister an annual report on the Board’s activities for the preceding year describing briefly the applications made to the Board, the Board’s decisions and any other matter that the Board considers relevant.

• Marginal note:Tabling

  (2) The Minister shall cause a copy of each annual report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the Minister receives the report.

Marginal note:Regulations

• 66.91 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations issuing policy directions to the Board and establishing general criteria to be applied by the Board or to which the Board must have regard

  • (a) in establishing fair and equitable royalties to be paid pursuant to this Act; and

  • (b) in rendering its decisions in any matter within its jurisdiction.

• Marginal note:Regulations regarding time

  (2) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) establishing the day by which, or the period within which, a matter before the Board — and any procedural step in the matter, whether set out in a provision of this Act or not — must be completed;

  • (b) establishing the minimum length of the effective period for the purposes of subsections 68.1(2) and 83(4);

  • (c) establishing a day for the purposes of paragraph 73.4(b); and

  • (d) authorizing the Board or a case manager to give a direction or make an order that adapts, restricts or excludes the application of any provision of regulations made under any of paragraphs (a) to (c) to a matter or any step in a matter.

• Marginal note:Inconsistency or conflict

  (3) Regulations made under subsection (2) prevail over regulations made under subsection 66.6(1) or (1.1) to the extent of an inconsistency or conflict between them.

PART VII.1Collective Administration of Copyright

Collective Societies

Marginal note:Filing of proposed tariffs

• 67 (1) A collective society may file a proposed tariff with the Board for the purpose of establishing royalties with respect to rights the collective society administers under section 3, 15, 18, 19 or 21.

• Marginal note:Mandatory filing for certain royalties

  (2) However, a collective society shall file a proposed tariff with the Board for the purpose of establishing royalties referred to in subsection 29.7(2) or (3) or paragraph 31(2)(d).

• Marginal note:Entering into agreements

  (3) A collective society may enter into agreements for the purpose of establishing royalties with respect to rights the collective society administers under section 3, 15, 18, 19 or 21, other than royalties referred to in subsection 29.7(2) or (3) or paragraph 31(2)(d).

Marginal note:Designation of collective society — paragraph 19(2)(a)

67.1 On application by a collective society, the Board may designate the collective society as the sole collective society authorized to collect all royalties referred to in paragraph 19(2)(a) with respect to a sound recording of a musical work.

Marginal note:Requests regarding repertoire

67.2 A collective society shall answer, within a reasonable time, all reasonable requests from any person for information about its repertoire of works, performer’s performances, sound recordings or communication signals.

67.3 [Repealed, 1997, c. 24, s. 45]

Tariffs

Proposed Tariffs

Marginal note:Filing

68 A proposed tariff must be filed no later than October 15 of the second calendar year before the calendar year in which the proposed tariff is to take effect or, if a day is established under regulations made under subsection 66.91(2), no later than that day.

Marginal note:Form and content

• 68.1 (1) A proposed tariff must be filed in both official languages and include

  • (a) the acts to which the tariff is to apply;

  • (b) the proposed royalty rates and any related terms and conditions; and

  • (c) the effective period of the proposed tariff.

• Marginal note:Minimum effective period

  (2) A proposed tariff’s effective period must be at least three calendar years or, if a minimum period is established under regulations made under subsection 66.91(2), at least that minimum period.

Marginal note:Publication and notification

68.2 The Board, in the manner that it sees fit,

• (a) shall publish the proposed tariff as well as a notice that any objection to the proposed tariff must be filed within the period set out in subsection 68.3(2); and

• (b) may distribute a notice — or cause it to be distributed or published, on any terms and conditions that the Board sees fit — of the publication of the tariff and of the notice referred to in paragraph (a) to any person affected by the proposed tariff.

Marginal note:Filing of objection

• 68.3 (1) An objection to a proposed tariff may be filed with the Board by

  • (a) an educational institution, if the proposed tariff is filed for the purpose of collecting royalties referred to in subsection 29.7(2) or (3);

  • (b) a retransmitter, as defined in subsection 31(1), if the proposed tariff is filed for the purpose of collecting royalties referred to in paragraph 31(2)(d); or

  • (c) any user, in any other case.

• Marginal note:Time for filing objection

  (2) An objection shall be filed no later than the 30th day after the day on which the Board published the proposed tariff under paragraph 68.2(a) or, if a day is established under the regulations made under subsection 66.91(2), no later than that day.

• Marginal note:Copy to collective society

  (3) The Board shall provide a copy of the filed objection to the collective society.

Marginal note:Reply to objection

• 68.4 (1) The collective society may file a reply to an objection with the Board.

• Marginal note:Copy to be provided

  (2) The Board shall provide a copy of the filed reply to the person or entity that filed the objection.

Withdrawal or Amendment of Proposed Tariff

Marginal note:Request to withdraw or amend

69 A collective society may, before a proposed tariff filed by it has been approved by the Board, make an application to the Board requesting that

• (a) the proposed tariff be withdrawn; or

• (b) a reference to an act set out in the proposed tariff be excluded from the approved tariff for all of the proposed effective period or, despite subsection 68.1(2), for a portion of that period.

Marginal note:Approval by Board

• 69.1 (1) The Board shall approve an application made under section 69 if it is satisfied that

  • (a) the collective society has provided sufficient public notice of its intention to make the application;

  • (b) every person who, in respect of the proposed effective period, has paid royalties that would not be payable if the application were approved has

    • (i) consented to the application,

    • (ii) received a refund of the royalties, or

    • (iii) entered into an agreement under subsection 67(3) that covers the act, repertoire or proposed effective period that is the subject of the application; and

  • (c) in the case of an application made under paragraph 69(b) with respect to a portion of the proposed effective period, the application is not made for the purpose of improperly circumventing the required minimum effective period.

• Marginal note:For greater certainty

  (2) For greater certainty, the approval of an application made under section 69 does not preclude the collective society from filing, in accordance with this Act, a proposed tariff that deals in whole or in part with the act, repertoire or proposed effective period that was the subject of the application.