Canadian content creators on Wednesday applauded Ottawa for combating content piracy with new copyright legislation that protects film and TV production jobs and creativity.

‘Clarity with respect to the ownership of creative works is one of the essential building blocks on which our industry is built,’ Norm Bolen, president and CEO of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association said in a statement after the feds updated the country’s intellectual property protection rules by greatly limiting how Canadians record TV shows or transfer music from a CD or computer to their iPod.

Among the more sweeping changes promised by Bill C-32 is a ‘notice-and-notice’ system where Internet service providers will be compelled to warn customers if they violate copyright laws.

And Canadians that have until now freely downloaded and shared protected content with impunity now face prosecution if they pick digital locks to access or duplicate entertainment product, even for personal use.

‘We’re happy to see that after 13 years of embarrassment on the world stage we’re finally catching up to international norms by becoming WIPO compliant,’ said ACTRA national executive director Stephen Waddell said of Canada finally complying with an international copyright treaty it signed in 1997. But ACTRA was not pleased with the fact that format shifting – the private copying of content from one device to another – would be allowed without any compensation to artists.

The Harper government insisted it aimed to satisfy both content creators and users as it unveiled new Canadian copyright rules.

‘We see this as a real balance between the legitimate interests of the consumer and the legitimate interests of the creator,’ Industry minister Tony Clement, who co-sponsored the federal Copyright Act amendments along with Heritage minister James Moore, told a press conference Wednesday.

A breakdown of the proposed new copyright rules includes a ‘YouTube’ clause to allow the mashing up of content, and uploading to the Internet, if not for commercial exploitation.

And the proposed legislation includes exemptions to allow, for example, the recording of TV shows for parody, satire or education, again if not for commercial gain.

And Ottawa reduced copyright infringement fines for individuals to between $100 and $5,000 per-pirated product, down from a previous $20,000 maximum

The Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network, an umbrella group that includes domestic film distributors and video games makers, called for quick passage of Bill C-32 to ‘protect Canada’s knowledge-based industries.’