Canada has signed a number of international agreements and treaties dealing with copyright and cultural trade issues, which have an impact on Canada’s sovereignty over cultural matters.

International Copyright Agreements

Canada's copyright law stimulates cultural production by ensuring that Canada's cultural creators and producers are compensated for their work. While the Copyright Act protects the rights of cultural producers within Canada, the Act is not enforceable outside Canada's borders. International copyright conventions and treaties expand the rights of Canadian creators to the territories of other member countries and include enforceable penalties for copyright infringement.

Canada has signed a number of such agreements, including:

• Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
  
  
• Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations
  
  
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty
  
  
• WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty

Amendments to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994 also contain provisions for the creation of a dispute resolution mechanism for international copyright issues.

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886), as amended 1979

The Berne Convention creates a "union for the protection of the rights of authors in their literary and artistic works." It provides a uniform set of rules for the treatment of copyright in all countries who have signed the agreement. Canada became a signatory to the 1886 Convention in 1928, and to the revised version (The Paris Protocol of 1971) in 1998.

Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and BroadcastingOrganizations(1961)

The Rome Convention established a union of states "moved by the desire to protect the rights of performers, producers of phonograms, and broadcasting organizations." The Convention addresses payments for the broadcasting of a recording to the public in Article 12. Canada became a signatory to the convention in 1998.

WIPO Copyright Treaty (1996)

Canada is a member of WIPO, one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). In 1997, Canada became a signatory to the WIPO Copyright Treaty, which recognizes:

the need to introduce new international rules and clarify the interpretation of certain existing rules in order to provide adequate solutions to the questions raised by new economic, social, cultural and technological developments

the profound impact of the development and convergence of information and communication technologies on the creation and use of literary and artistic works

WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (1996)

In 1996, Canada became a signatory to the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. Under this agreement, "phonograms" include compact discs, cassette tapes, records, but not include soundtracks incorporated in a film or audio-visual work.

The Treaty was designed to:

• develop and maintain the protection of the rights of performers and producers of phonograms in a manner as effective and uniform as possible
  
  
• recognize the need to introduce new international rules in order to provide adequate solutions to the questions raised by economic, social, cultural and technological developments
  
  
• recognize the profound impact of the development and convergence of information and communication technologies on the production and use of performances and phonograms

International Trade Agreements

Canada tries to balance its need to trade in the international marketplace with its desire to support its cultural identity by exempting its cultural industries from the terms of various international trade agreements. However, other countries, such as the United States, who support a "free market" for all goods often maintain that "cultural industries" are actually "entertainment industries." 

Canada is often required to make difficult compromises in return for cultural exemptions - for example, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allows Canada to use measures to protect its cultural industries. However, the agreement also allows the U.S. to retaliate with measures "of equal force" against another trade sector of its choice if Canada's cultural protection measures are found to violate the agreement's rules.

Canada U.S.Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

Canada signed the FTA in 1988. Article 2005(1) exempts Canada's cultural industries from the terms of the agreement. 

However, under the FTA:

• Tariffs are removed for goods used as 'input' in production by the cultural industries.
  
  
• The requirement that magazines be typeset and printed in Canada in order for companies to deduct advertising expenses for corporate tax calculations is removed.
  
  
• Copyright payments for cable redistribution of distant signals is imposed, regardless of nationality.
  
  
• The Canadian government must ensure that 'fair market value' is given to American firms that are forced to divest their interests in Canadian cultural industries.

Canada's ability to invoke the cultural exemption clause is also limited by terms in the agreement that allows the U.S. to retaliate against Canada if it moves to protect a cultural industry. Under Article 2005(2), the U.S. may take "measures of equivalent effect in response" to Canada's actions.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Canada signed NAFTA in 1994. The cultural exemption in the Canada-U.S. The FTA was carried over into NAFTA; Article 2106 states that "measures adopted or maintained with respect to cultural industries...shall be governed under this agreement exclusively in accordance with the provisions of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement."

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (1947, 1994)

The GATT established a multilateral trading system and created the World Trade Organization (WTO), which is responsible for the administration and operation of the GATT. The WTO is also responsible for the resolution of disputes between nations that are signatories to the agreement. The 1947 version of the agreement contained an exemption for film quotas, which was carried over into the text under Article 4 of the 1994 version.

While Canada did not specifically include any of its cultural services when it signed on to the GATT, many of Canada's cultural goods are subject to terms set out in Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMS) section of the agreement. In 1997, Canada lost a dispute at the WTO with the United States over its tariffs on split-run magazines, a considerable blow to Canada's struggle to protect the Canadian magazine industry.

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Canada became a member of the OECD in 1961. The OECD's terms make several references to culture:

• Annex A5 of the OECD Code of Liberalization of Current Invisible Operations allows for "systems of aid to the production of films" for cultural reasons, and screen quotas for films. However, duties and tariffs cannot be used against foreign films. Screen quotas refer to quotas for films of national origin in the overall commercial exhibition of films from all origins. They are measured as a proportion of total screen time, over not less than one year, and are calculated on the basis of screen time per theatre, per year.
  
  
• Under article 7 of the OECD Code of Liberalization of Capital Movements, Canada is permitted to use investment discrimination, for its "activities related to Canada's cultural heritage or national identity." Investment review in Canada takes place under the Investment Canada Act.