Canadian Copyright: History, Change, and Potential

The first part of this article reviews Canada’s international copyright history and the role Canada has played in international copyright from the nineteenth century to the present day. In the part two, the author asks whether we can be optimistic or pessimistic about Canada’s role, and the role of international institutions more generally, in promoting solutions to the social policy and social justice concerns raised by the expansion of intellectual property. The author argues that Canada’s history, while demonstrating Canada’s potential to support progressive change, has not borne out certain middle power ideals.