moved for leave to introduce C-209, An Act to amend the Copyright Act (Crown copyright).
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise to reintroduce my bill which proposes to amend the Copyright Act. In particular, section 12 would be dropped, and replaced by “Without prejudice to any rights or privileges of the Crown, no copyright subsists in any work that is, or has been, prepared or published by or under the direction or control of Her Majesty or any government department.”
As things stand now, the government has a closed door when it comes to government publications, research and a number of published periodicals. This costs taxpayers a significant amount of money. It is against open government and is based upon a law that Canada enacted in 1921, which was based on a law from 1911 in the U.K.
Therefore, the bill would save money for taxpayers, it would provide open government for educators and innovators, and it would bring accountability. Most importantly, the bill would bring Canada in line with so many other countries that have information available for business or civil society for national advancement.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)