The Canadian concept of fair dealing is similar to that in the UK and Australia. The fair dealing clauses of the Canadian copyright law allow users to engage in certain activities relating to research, private study, education, parody, satire, criticism, review, or news reporting. With respect to criticism, review, and news reporting, the user must mention the source of the material, along with the name of the author, performer, maker, or broadcaster for the dealing to be fair.
Prior to 2011, fair dealing in Canada was not definitely found to contain exceptions for parody (unlike fair use in the United States), but the Copyright Act has since been amended to include parody and satire (along with educational use) under its fair dealing provisions. Previously, a Quebec Court of Appeal in ''Les productions Avanti Cine Video v. Favreau'' (4 Aug 1999) had recognized that parody could potentially be a 'critique', however it refused to recognize the exception in that circumstance.
The 2004 ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada in ''CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada'' has gone far in clarifying the concept of fair dealing in Canada. In considering fair dealing the Court makes the following general observation:
It is important to clarify some general considerations about exceptions to copyright infringement. Procedurally, a defendant is required to prove that his or her dealing with a work has been fair; however, the fair dealing exception is perhaps more properly understood as an integral part of the Copyright Act than simply a defence. Any act falling within the fair dealing exception will not be an infringement of copyright. The fair dealing exception, like other exceptions in the Copyright Act, is a user's right. In order to maintain the proper balance between the rights of a copyright owner and users' interests, it must not be interpreted restrictively.
Furthermore, by taking "a liberal approach to the enumerated purposes of the dealing", the Court has made fair dealing more flexible, reducing the gap between this provision and US fair use
It then establishes six principal criteria for evaluating fair dealing.
#__The Purpose of the Dealing.__ Is it for research, private study, criticism, review or news reporting (or additionally, since 2011, education, parody or satire)? It expresses that "these allowable purposes should not be given a restrictive interpretation or this could result in the undue restriction of users' rights." In particular, the Court gave "a large and liberal interpretation" to the notion of research, stating that "lawyers carrying on the business of law for profit are conducting research".
#__The Character of the Dealing.__ How were the works dealt with? Was there a single copy or were multiple copies made? Were these copies distributed widely or to a limited group of people? Was the copy destroyed after being used? What is the general practice in the industry?
# __The Amount of the Dealing.__ How much of the work was used? What was the importance of the infringed work? Quoting trivial amounts may alone sufficiently establish fair dealing as there would not be copyright infringement at all. In some cases even quoting the entire work may be fair dealing. The amount of the work taken must be fair in light of the purpose of the dealing.
# __Alternatives to the Dealing.__ Was a "non-copyrighted equivalent of the work" available to the user? Was the dealing "reasonably necessary to achieve the ultimate purpose"?
# __The Nature of the Work.__ Copying from a work that has never been published could be more fair than from a published work "in that its reproduction with acknowledgement could lead to a wider public dissemination of the work - one of the goals of copyright law. If, however, the work in question was confidential, this may tip the scales towards finding that the dealing was unfair."
# __Effect of the Dealing on the Work.__ Is it likely to affect the market of the original work? "Although the effect of the dealing on the market of the copyright owner is an important factor, it is neither the only factor nor the most important factor that a court must consider in deciding if the dealing is fair."
Though the Supreme Court outlined these six criteria, it noted that in some contexts, factors other than those listed may be relevant in determining whether a particular dealing is fair.
On June 2, 2010, the Government of Canada introduced Bill C-32, An Act to amend the Copyright Act of Canada. A summary of the changes proposed by this bill in terms of fair dealing notes that C-32 "expands the scope of the fair dealing exception at section 29 of the Act to include new purposes: education, parody or satire". The stated aims of the revised bill were also to "permit businesses, educators and libraries to make greater use of copyright material in digital form". Bill C-32 had not passed by the time the minority Conservative government faced a vote of no-confidence and subsequently fell on March 25, 2011.
On September 29, 2011, the bill was re-introduced to the Forty-first Parliament as Bill C-11. With the backing of a majority Conservative government, this version of the Copyright Modernization Act has passed into law. Simply put, the fair dealing amendment in Section 29 of Bill C-11 expands the first criteria for evaluating fair dealing - the Purpose of the Dealing - to include education, and parody or satire, in addition to research, private study, criticism and review.
In a press release on the Government of Canada's Balanced Copyright site, the Honourable James Moore (Canadian politician), Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, notes that the revamped bill "delivers a common-sense balance between the interests of consumers and the rights of the creative community". Critics of the bill point to "excessively restrictive digital lock amendments" that they claim will create a situation where people "are entitled to use copyrighted content lawfully but [are] prevented from doing so".
# Canada