With the start of a new session of parliament, the federal government has dusted off Bill C-32, its proposed amendment to the Copyright Act, and resurrected it under the name Bill C-11.

“We didn’t alter a comma,” Heritage Minister James Moore told CBC reporters at a press conference Sept. 29.

In January, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) submitted recommendations to the legislative committee on Bill C-32 , supporting some parts, suggesting changes to others and recommending the elimination of the highly unpopular digital lock provisions.

“The government has shown disregard for the public’s concerns raised during Bill C-32 public consultations by re-introducing an identical bill,” said Roxanne Dubois, CFS national chairperson, in a press release Sept. 29.

“Anti-circumvention provisions will seriously undermine students’, teachers’ and the general public’s use of copyrighted works.”

The bill would add education to the “fair dealing” provisions, which allow limited use of copyrighted materials for specific purposes. This should make it less confusing for educators and students, who so far have had to classify their permitted uses as either “research” or “personal study.”

Although the bill contains this and other improvements, any user rights could be overridden by the digital lock provisions.

“Students and other members of the education sector use and create copyrighted materials on a daily basis,” added Dubois. “Students have concerns that overly restrictive regulations will lead to higher access fees paid by post-secondary institutions and, ultimately, by students.”

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada also submitted recommendations to the legislative committee on Bill C-32.

Their recommendations include eliminating the requirement that students destroy any recording of an online lesson within 30 days after the end of a course.

They say this discriminates against students in remote areas, who have to take courses through distance education. Students in advanced courses may still rely on materials from prerequisite courses, and those who receive course materials in a classroom are allowed to keep them.

The requirement would also create extra work for professors, who would have to rebuild their online content every semester.

Published in Volume 66, Number 6 of The Uniter (October 5, 2011)