May 1, 2021

Consultation on a Modern Framework for Online Intermediaries

Copyright is essential to the work that we do and is a key pillar of the creative economy. Copyright supports the continued creation and publication of written works in all genres and for a variety of markets. 

The online environment continues to evolve, influencing the ways that users consume content and how rightsholders are remunerated for that use. As the consultation paper points out, the internet is dominated by intermediaries—the “web giants”—that provide the basic tools needed to participate in the online sphere through web hosting, data storage, and internet service. Some also aggregate, curate, and disseminate content, including copyright-protected works. 

ACP supports the stated policy objective of this consultation, that is, to ensure that Canada’s copyright framework for online intermediaries reflects the evolving digital world. For ACP, this framework must be strengthened to better ensure that rightsholders are fairly compensated for use of their content online, and to ensure their rights can be enforced efficiently and effectively in cases of infringement.