It’s not uncommon for old copyrighted work to make its way into new creative. Media types frequently borrow, reference and tribute other works in their creations. Usually, it’s just a matter of signing an agreement with the original copyright owners (well… and paying them, too), but what happens when a copyright owner can’t be found?

Canada has emerged as a major battleground in the contentious U.S.-led global campaign against intellectual property piracy. But, given the number of people with money at stake and the potentially far-reaching economic, political, and social implications of the issues in question, it’s often hard to tell fact from fiction. It’s equally difficult to sort out the array of current and proposed Canadian, U.S., and international laws when it comes to intellectual property piracy.

Who could have predicted all this? If you consider how Canadian media has evolved in the past 15 years – the technological innovations, media globalization, the restructuring of domestic and international regulatory regimes and the demographic diversification – it’s a wonder that the industry was able to muddle through. All of these things have collectively transformed the Canadian media scene. And, given the speed and magnitude of these changes, it’s understandable if those at work in media were leery about what the next 15 years might bring.

Marsha Ann Tate is a freelance researcher and writer focusing on Canada’s film and television industries. She is the author of several books, including Canadian Television Programming Made for the United States Market: A History with Production and Broadcast Data and Wisdom: How to Evaluate and Create Information Quality on the Web, to be published in fall 2008.

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