All of this was germane to the government because the lobby group for the big pharmaceuticals had been pushing for an extension on their patent protections, promising, in return, to spend 10 per cent of Canadian sales on R&D in Canada. The Industry Canada policy officers note that: "... after peaking in 1997 at 12.9% [of sales], [Big Pharma spending on R&D] has declined to 8.5% in 2006. The dollar value of their R&D has been flat at about $1.2 billion while sales have continued to grow. However, it is important to note that this percentage does not include the S1.5 billion of biotechnology R&D in Canada undertaken by companies who do not yet have a patented product on the market."

One of the issues that politicians will grapple with, as they balance the rights of content creators against those of content users is the concept of fair dealing when it comes to satire and parody. The Copyright Act says exempts research or private study, criticism or review, news reporting as "fair dealing" but does not specifically say you can use copyrighted content in satire or parody.I recently received a document, retrieved under Canada's Access to Information laws, that looks at that issue. The document is a briefing note, prepared by Associate Deputy Minister Paul Booth (last seen leading the auto restructuring file for the federal government) for then-Minister Jim Prentice. It's two pages long but here's an even briefer summary...