A unique moot, the Canadian Copyright Policy Moot is a copyright policy competition jointly organized by Heritage Canada and Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada, in collaboration with the University of Ottawa Centre for Law, Technology, and Society.
As part of this policy competition, teams of students pitch policy reform proposal on copyright issues of their choosing directly to policymakers from the federal government. They write a full Memorandum to Cabinet and then orally present the proposed policy to federal public servants.
This year, six teams from University of Windsor, University of Manitoba, Osgoode Hall, York University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Ottawa entered the briefing competition. Teams centered their proposals on adapting Canada’s Copyright Act to technological change and evolving access needs in the digital age, across topics such as AI-generated works, text and data mining, controlled digital lending, and access to eBooks. Participants explored how legal frameworks can respond to rapid innovation while maintaining a balance between user rights and authors’ interests.
Four teams - from the University of Ottawa’s Common Law Section, the University of Windsor, the University of Manitoba, and Osgoode Hall, York University - were invited to the final round of oral briefing in front of high-level policymakers in Ottawa on March 20, 2026.
The University of Ottawa team, comprised of Selin Yalcin, Stefan Tampu and Jarek Landori-Hoffman, all J.D. candidate in the Common Law Section at the Faculty of Law, received the place of honour in both award categories: the Best Policy Briefing and the Best Memorandum to Cabinet Awards.
Rethinking library access in the age of digital technologies
The University of Ottawa Faculty of Law team focused its proposal on improving how libraries access and lend eBooks in Canada, in response to growing challenges in the digital landscape. Their presentation drew attention to the pressures faced by libraries as demand for digital materialscontinues to rise, while high licensing costs and restrictive terms limit their ability to build comprehensive collections. These constraints often translate into longer wait times and reduced access for users, raising broader concerns about equitable access to knowledge.
In the face of these issues, the team developed three complementary policy options. Among them, controlled digital lending was presented as a practical avenue to expand access while offering an alternative to costly licensing structures. The team also explored the concept of digital exhaustion as a way to clarify and reinforce user rights in the online environment, particularly in situations where access is mediated by contracts rather than ownership of the a physical content.
Their approach was informed by consultations with librarians across the country, ensuring that the proposals reflect the day-to-day realities of the sector. By grounding their work in these perspectives, the team aimed to put forward solutions that are not only legally sound, but also responsive to the needs of institutions responsible for providing public access to information.
Overall, the proposal highlights the importance of adapting Canada’s copyright framework to better support libraries in the digital era, while maintaining a fair balance between access and the interests of rights holders.
In the final round, the team was able to convince a panel of Canada’s leading digital and copyright policymakers: Mark Schaan, Associate Deputy Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada; Alix Binette-Roy, A/Director, IT modernization, Canadian Intellectual Property Office ; Ian Dahlman, Director, Integration, Judicial and Registry Services, Courts Administration Service; Robert DuPelle, Expert adviser, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and Lara Taylor, Secretary General, Copyright Board of Canada. The expert panel was impressed by their thoughtful research, briefing skills and how they anticipated some of the panel’s most complex questions.
This is a second victory in the row for the University of Ottawa, who already won the 2024 Copyright Policy Moot, reinforcing the university’s reputation of excellence in copyright and technology policy and their ability to propose innovative policy solutions.
The honourable mentions, for both the Best Memorandum of Cabinet and Best Policy Briefing Awards, went to Nikhita Nandeesha, Carlos Herrera and Gurbir Mander from the Windsor University with a proposal titled "Modernizing access: a legislative framework for controlled digital lending in Canada."
The University of Ottawa team was coached by in-house litigator David Fewer, General Counsel of the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic and Anmol Rajkumar Patel, PhD Candidate at Faculty of Law.