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Updates to Canada’s Copyright Act bring consumers closer to the ‘right to repair’ your devices

- December 10, 2024

Technological protection measures can prevent repairs by anyone other than designated providers. (Shutterstock)
Technological protection measures can prevent repairs by anyone other than designated providers. (Shutterstock)

On November 7, two bills that make enormous progress toward establishing a meaningful have become law after receiving . Bills and are complementary private members’ bills that amend in relation to technological protection measures (TPMs).

TPMs, also referred to as “digital locks,” are software or hardware that restrict the modification or repair of a device or technology. The Copyright Act gives a very broad and open-ended definition of techniques, components and devices that can be considered TPMs.

Both bills can be traced back to 2021, and have spent the past several years winding through the legislative process in Parliament and the Senate. They are the product of enormous grassroots support and advocacy from NGOs, members of the public and national industry associations.

I am a co-founder of the and I lead a research team that investigates the in Canada. As an intellectual property lawyer, I have provided law and policy insights to Canada’s Parliament, the European Commission and the Australian Productivity Commission. I appeared as a witness before the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology to speak in favour of these bills.

A broad definition

Given the wide appeal for the right to repair — — the bills have received unanimous and multi-partisan support throughout the numerous readings and debates.

TPMs were included in the Copyright Act in 2012 in an effort to combat online piracy of entertainment media and unauthorized uses of works on digital formats and devices like DVDs and the iPod.

Though we have largely moved on from those technologies, TPMs are present in an ever-growing number of smart devices and machinery: everything from agricultural equipment to home appliances to cars to medical devices. Ostensibly, anything with embedded software and a microchip can incorporate TPMs into its design.

Technological protection measures are software or hardware that restrict the modification or repair of a device or technology. (Shutterstock)

Often repairing computerized devices requires circumventing TPMs, whether to access diagnostic and repair information on the device itself, or in making ch