Q&A: What new right to repair laws mean for Canadians with products in need of a fix [Video]

New changes to Canada’s Copyright Act have become law, aimed at making it easier for people and independent repair technicians to fix the products they own, such as phones, fridges, and in the case of farmers, their tractors.

Many modern devices contain software and computer code, which is protected by copyright, preventing third-party repair technicians from being able to fix those products.

Bill C-244 allows individuals or third-party repair companies to bypass digital locks to make software fixes without violating copyright, while Bill C-294 allows those locks to be circumvented “to make (a) computer program or a device in which it is embedded interoperable with any other computer program, device or component.”

In a major win for the right to repair movement, both bills received royal assent last week and became law.

Alissa Centivany, an assistant professor of information and media studies at Western University, helped advise the drafting of the legislation. She spoke …