Copyright explained

Bill C-11 is a federal (Canadian) law that came into force in 2012 as an update of the Copyright Act (C-42) on the protection of intellectual property rights of different contents. It provides the framework for notices when protected content is illegally downloaded.

Examples of copyright infringement:

• Illegally downloading music, films, books, games or software
• The illegal use of images, words or software codes

In January 2015, the Canadian government added provisions to Bill C-11 with regard to the process used to report and punish consumers who download or share illegal content without paying for it. This law requires Canadian Internet service providers to act as intermediaries between copyright owners and consumers.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada has created an FAQ section that may answer your questions on notices of possible infringement of copyright. You can refer to the page here.

No. TELUS does not monitor the behaviour of its customers for copyright protection on its network. Copyright owners can find out if people illegally download or use unauthorized copies of their files. The copyright owner was therefore able to track down the Internet addresses of those who, in its view, committed an act of infringement. TELUS received a list of IP addresses from the copyright owner and found that one of them was linked to your account.

TELUS is responsible for informing you that it was notified of a potential copyright infringement associated with your Internet connection. By virtue of Canada's copyright law, when TELUS is notified of such an infringement by a copyright owner, it must inform the customer associated with the Internet connection involved.

Why did you send the potential infringement notice when the person at fault (known or unknown) is someone other than me who uses my connection?
The account owner is responsible for all the data transfer through his or her connection, regardless of the person or computer at the origin of the download. Please refer to article 3 of the service account agreement here.

Canada's Copyright Act states that TELUS must send a notice to each client concerned for every notice it receives. TELUS is not the source of these notices. If you receive a second or third notice, we recommend that you check the date and time indicated on the notice to make sure that new notices do not concern the same incident as the first one. If you believe you are not guilty of the infringement, any new notices you receive indicate that the infringement may still be occurring and the security of your connection needs to be enhanced.

Contact the copyright owner identified in the notice for any question concerning the alleged copyright infringement.

What can I do to prevent other people from using my Internet connection?
If you think that someone is using your Internet connection without your permission, you can take the following steps to prevent any allegation of infringement against you:

• Protect your wireless network with a password to prevent unauthorized use.
• Share this notice with everyone who has access to your Internet account.
• Update your applications and operating system to minimize risks.
• Ensure that the security mechanisms of your computer and any other connected devices (tablets, smartphones, etc.) have been activated.
• Update your antivirus program so that it can detect and remove viruses.

For more information, refer to the following page here.

In clause 3.7 of the Acceptable Use Policy, you have agreed that you will not violate copyright laws. Please refer to [TELUS’s Acceptable Use Policy] (https://business.telus.com/en/support/global/legal/acceptable-use-policy)

No. TELUS is not in a position to give you legal advice on allegations of copyright infringement.

Questions related to the actions demanded by the copyright owner after you receive the notice must be addressed to the copyright owner. TELUS is responsible neither for the content nor the interpretation of the notice.

Rest assured that we protect the confidentiality of your personal information. We have not shared any information about your identity with the copyright owner.

This notice is forwarded in the form and language in which it was received, as required by the Copyright Act. Many notices are sent to us from the United States or English Canada. In all cases, TELUS is not responsible for the original complaint and content and cannot help you with its interpretation or translation. If you have questions about this, please call (or email) the contact responsible for the original complaint.

TELUS does not take part in filing complaints. By sending you the notice, it does not confirm that the event took place, but only that your Internet account was linked to the IP address at the time the incident occurred. The notice is sent whenever the copyright owner or representative can establish an association between an infringement and an address linked to an Internet connection. It is their responsibility to guarantee the accuracy of this type of notice. TELUS is not in a position to offer legal advice on the complaint or the notice that you received. You can search the web for more information on the Canadian Copyright Act.

TELUS does not check your connection to detect copyright infringement. The copyright infringement complaint is based on evidence provided by the copyright owner or this entity's legal representative. The initial complaint indicates that the copyright-protected file was found on a computer linked to your Internet connection.