{"id":4341,"date":"2018-11-01T10:54:35","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T14:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/?p=4341"},"modified":"2018-11-01T11:16:04","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T15:16:04","slug":"importing-and-ip-copyright-compliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/importing-and-ip-copyright-compliance\/","title":{"rendered":"Importing and IP: Copyright Compliance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/importing-and-ip\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last week,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> we discussed how Canadian IP holders can benefit from anti-counterfeiting measures in international trade. Protecting your own IP, however, is just one part of staying on the right side of international copyright law!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While Canada has gained a reputation as a weak link in fight for stopping the trade of counterfeit goods, increasing pressure from trading allies means that Canadian importers should start brushing up on copyright compliance and how to stay out of trouble in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New USMCA measures mean the scope of goods that the CSBA can stop at the border has increased, as well &#8212; all the more reason to keep an eye on your compliance!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do I stay compliant?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keeping your copyright compliance on the up-and-up isn\u2019t a simple, quick task.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canada is a member of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca\/en\/article\/copyright-law\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2 major international copyright agreements<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention. Getting to know both agreements is the first step any importer should take, but the fact is that they\u2019re long agreements that aren\u2019t always clear to the layperson &#8212; that is, anyone not a dedicated expert in international trade and copyright law.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An Example: Compliance and Books<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to import books into Canada for sale, you have a number of copyright regulations to keep in mind. You\u2019re free to import a foreign-published book to sell at a Canadian retailer, right? Yes &#8212; <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">if <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">no one else has secured exclusive rights to distribute that edition of the book. If they have, attempting to import that book is illegal. Well, then, what if <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">want to be the exclusive distributor of a foreign-published book? Look out &#8212; you\u2019ll have <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic.gc.ca\/eic\/site\/020.nsf\/eng\/00621.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a few steps you have to take<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in order to enforce your exclusive right to import that copyrighted material:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Retailers must be given advance notice that you are the exclusive distributor;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shipments must be made to said retailers within a certain number of days after an order is place; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A suggested retail price (SRP) must be set, and must be set according to guidelines based on the original price of the book.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, even if you keep rules about exclusive distribution in mind, you might bump up against other international copyright regulations. Importing a book by a Canadian author that was printed in Great Britain &#8212; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca\/en\/article\/copyright-law\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or any member of the Berne Convention<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8212; means the rules change to allow for importation without a copyright violation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Staying compliant to copyright law when importing books means keeping in mind multiple different agreements and regulations &#8212; something that rings true for <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">any <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">import into Canada, even if the specifics of the regulations vary.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What happens if I violate copyright?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether it\u2019s because a regulation was missed, a supplier was suspect, or because you knowingly tried to import counterfeit goods &#8212; not a good idea! &#8212; you may someday end up with copyright charges against you and your business. Don\u2019t panic, however &#8212; while Canadian law does allow for jail time for particularly egregious violations, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldtrademarkreview.com\/anti-counterfeiting\/procedures-and-strategies-anti-counterfeiting-canada\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Canadian courts rarely, if ever, recommend it<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s highly unlikely any copyright violation a Canadian importer is accused of will lead to a criminal prosecution, but the law <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">does <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">allow for penalties up to $1 million dollars in fines and five years in jail. In order to be convicted in a criminal prosecution, your accuser must provide proof that you had subjective knowledge of the act in question &#8212; and that\u2019s good news for anyone who ends up on the wrong side of copyright law because of a mistake.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Civil remedies, on the other hand, are more common. If found guilty of a copyright violation, you\u2019ll likely be subjected to the penalties laid out in the Trademarks Act and the Copyright Act, the general statutory frameworks for the actions. This means that if you imported sunglasses that were then found to be counterfeit, your goods could be destroyed, you could be fined, or you could be required to pay a portion of the copyright holder\u2019s legal costs. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldtrademarkreview.com\/anti-counterfeiting\/procedures-and-strategies-anti-counterfeiting-canada\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In one case<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, an importer was required to pay bonded storage and cartage costs and destroy the goods in front of a CBSA witness. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How can I stay compliant?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The number one way to ensure you never run into copyright violations? Work with an expert!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Customs brokers keep on top of changes in international, import, and copyright law so you know you\u2019ll always be compliant with the newest regulations. If you\u2019re ready to start working with a customs broker, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">contact Clearit today!<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, we discussed how Canadian IP holders can benefit from anti-counterfeiting measures in international trade. Protecting your own IP, however, is just one part of staying on the right side of international copyright law! While Canada has gained a reputation as a weak link in fight for stopping the trade of counterfeit goods, increasing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4341"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4344,"href":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4341\/revisions\/4344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}