Comparative analysis of copyright enforcement in the cloud under U.S. and Canadian law: The liability of Internet intermediaries

Through an empirical comparison between U.S and Canadian copyright law, this paper examines how lawmakers in both countries should deal with copyright liability issues in the cloud while maintaining a proper balance between content owners and Internet intermediaries. This paper proposes to answer this question throughout the study of the liability of Internet intermediaries. Drawing on copyright statutory provisions, case law and scholars articles, this paper examines the issue of online piracy, defines cloud computing and identifies the copyright liability issues posed by the cloud. It then compares U.S and Canadian copyright laws and discusses the new reform proposed in both countries in relation with the liability of Internet intermediaries. It concludes that new statutory reform might not be necessary except for clarification purposes. Indeed current copyright laws deal efficiently with copyright liability issues in the cloud while maintaining a proper balance between content owners and Internet intermediaries.