Copyright Board : The Copyright Board (CB) was created in 1989 following an amendment to the Copyright Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-42). It replaced the Copyright Appeal Board, which had existed since 1936.
The Copyright Act defines the CB's mandate, which consists of three roles. First, the approval of tariffs (royalties) for works whose rights are managed by a collective society for the administration of copyrights. The CB handles works including musical works, sound recordings, public performances (television, satellite radio, online music, restaurants, etc.), literary works, the retransmission of remote signals (television and radio) and the manufacture or import of blank audio media for private copying.
To obtain approval of proposed tariffs, collective societies for the administration of copyrights must submit their tariff proposals to the CB or reach agreements with users of copyright-protected works. The role of the CB is to review those tariff proposals and agreements and approve or deny them. All CB decisions are made through formal hearings, which are held several times a year. Collective societies must submit their tariff proposals for the upcoming years. Those tariff proposals are published in the Canada Gazette so that stakeholders can submit their written objections. The proposed tariffs as well as the objections are then submitted to the CB, which may issue its own objections. All objections must be submitted to the relevant society for response. Then, following a hearing, the CB issues a decision on the proposed tariffs: amend them or keep them as is. Once that decision has been issued, the approved tariffs are published in the Canada Gazette.
The CB's second role is to grant licences for use of a work when the copyright owner is unlocatable in accordance with section 77 of the Act. Royalties paid in such cases are issued to a collective society and must be held there in the event the copyright owner is located within five years of issue of the licence.
The CB's third role is to arbitrate disputes between collective societies and users on the amount of royalties to be paid for the use of works. Those disputes are also reviewed at a formal CB hearing, after which a decision is issued. That decision is published in the Canada Gazette.
At the time it was formed in 1989, the CB reported to the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. In 1995, when the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs was dissolved, the CB began reporting to the Minister of Industry.
The CB is divided in two: the Board, which is the administrative tribunal itself, and the Secretariat. The Board is comprised of a maximum of five members, appointed by the Governor in Council for a period of five years. The Chair of the Board must be a current or former judge. All members, except the Vice-Chair, perform their roles on a part-time basis. Those members decide on CB powers, rights and duties in accordance with its mandate. Under the Act, the CB has the powers, rights and duties of a superior court of record and its decisions can be likened to acts of the Federal Court.
Since 1989, the CB has been led by five Chairs: the Honourable Donald H. Medhurst (1989-1994), the Honourable John Howard Gomery (1999-2004), the Honourable William J. Vancise (2004-2015), the Honourable Robert A. Blair (2015-2020) and the Honourable Luc Martineau (since 2020).
The Secretariat is comprised of approximately 20 employees divided into four teams and led by the Board's Vice-Chair as full-time Chief Executive Officer of the CB. The Legal Services and Economic Services teams are responsible for conducting the necessary research to support the tribunal's decisions. In addition, Legal Services also acts as legal advisors for the Secretariat. The Registry Office is responsible for the documentary management of all cases and applications submitted to the Board, managing the logistics aspects of hearings and external communications. Finally, the Corporate Services team handles all of the CB's administrative aspects (finances, procurement, human resources, etc.).
Since 1989, the CB has had four Chief Executive Officers: Michel Hétu (1989-1999), Stephen J. Callary (1999-2009), Claude Majeau (2009-2018) and Nathalie Théberge (since 2018).
