Copyright Board Canada
Commission du droit d’auteur Canada
PN 2019‐001 rev. 2 Publication date: March 27, 2019 Amendment date: December 18, 2024
Practice Notice on Filing of Documents
General Statement In accordance with the Copyright Board Rules of Practice and Procedure, parties must file their documents by electronic transmission. Documents filed this way constitute the original record.
This Practice Notice sets out requirements for electronic documents, paper copies of case records, and the identification of confidential and highly confidential information.
Method of Filing for Electronic Documents Unless directed otherwise, a document is filed in electronic format by email at registry-greffe@cb-cda.gc.ca to the attention of the Secretary General.
Specifications for Electronic Documents Parties must submit documents as electronic files that contain all structured content information (sometimes referred to as a “searchable” document), such as character and tabular information.
Text documents must be filed in Word format (.doc /.docx) or in PDF format generated from a word processor, save for certain exceptions.
a) Format requirements Unless otherwise stated, all documents filed with the Board shall meet the following requirements:
• Font: Arial • Font style: Regular • Font size: 12-point
2 • Line spacing: 115% or 1.15 times font size • Margins: Normal (2.54 cm) • Page size: Letter (21.5 cm by 28 cm)
b) Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Scanning a paper document and then processing/converting the image via an OCR system (e.g., converting an image to a “searchable” PDF) may not result in a document that fully meets the Board’s requirements. OCR processing may not be entirely accurate, may not process areas that are difficult to interpret (e.g., tables, text near graphical elements), or may otherwise not fully and correctly process all characters in a document. Furthermore, formatting information (including tabular information) is often lost in this process.
While an OCR-generated “searchable” electronic file is acceptable, parties must avoid it where possible.
c) Signatures Generally, documents submitted to the Board do not require a graphical signature. To the extent parties wish for such a graphical signature to be present, they are asked to insert it as a digital signature or as an image into the electronic file.
d) Tables In a text document, a descriptive title must be included above any table. If there is more than one table, the title must include a table number.
Any table larger than one page must be sent separately as an Excel file to facilitate analysis of the data therein.
e) Raw Data and Statistics Raw data and statistics must be filed in Excel or comma-separated values (CSV) format.
f) Page Numbering Save for certain exceptions, electronic documents must display page numbers on each page, consecutively numbered, and beginning with the first page of the file. In all cases where a paper copy is submitted to the Board, the numbering on the electronic version and the paper version must be identical.
3 g) Bookmarks Bookmarks shall be included in all electronic files that contain more than one document.
Identification of Confidential Information a) Designating Confidential Information For both electronic and paper documents, where a confidentiality order has been made, a party may designate information as confidential or highly confidential, pursuant to subrule 46(4) of the Copyright Board Rules of Practice and Procedure.
All confidential information must be (a) provided on a white background, with the confidential information highlighted in yellow, or;
(b) provided on a yellow background, where the information is on a page that consists of only confidential information.
All highly confidential information must be (a) provided on a white background, with the highly confidential information highlighted in blue, or;
(b) provided on a blue background, where the information is on a page that consists of only highly confidential information.
All highlighted text must be clearly legible. The cover page of each document must indicate if it contains confidential or highly confidential information. Additionally, the designation “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL” must appear at the in the right footer of every page.
Parties are to avoid printing documents onto coloured paper and scanning the output.
b) Redacted Copies When a document contains confidential or highly confidential information, then one redacted public copy must be filed. If a document contains both confidential and highly confidential information, a redacted confidential copy (where the highly confidential information is removed) must be filed. If an entire document is confidential or highly confidential, it is not necessary to provide a redacted copy.
4 In a Case Record, if an entire document is confidential or highly confidential, parties may include a page in the redacted case record which indicates that the entire document is confidential or highly confidential.
Specifications for Paper Copies of Case Records Unless otherwise directed, Parties must file two paper copies of any case record, response to the case record and reply to the response (Rule 37(2)).
Very large electronic documents (such as Excel tables) do not need to be filed in printed format. Parties may include a page in the case record, which indicates that the exhibit is available in electronic format only.
Case records must be bound (e.g., three-ring binder, staples, etc.). Exhibits are separated by consecutively numbered tabs. Each exhibit is identified by the name of the party submitting it, together with its consecutive number. Exhibit No. 1 is the statement of case. Example: BOARD-01, BOARD-02, etc.
Method of Filing for Paper Copies Where required, paper copies must be delivered to the Board by mail or courier to: The Secretary General Copyright Board of Canada 56 Sparks Street, Suite 800 Ottawa, ON K1P 5A9
Parties should contact the Registry to make arrangements before delivery.