Trade officials failed to finalize the terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) last week. Due to the launch of the Canadian federal elections, that should mean that the government would have to put the TPP on hold until voting day is over.

Desperate to finalize TPP as soon as possible, the Harper administration has taken an extreme measure. It released new guidelines granting itself power to keep negotiating the deal, rather than respecting regulations that would otherwise prevent anything beyond administrative activities during the election season.

And TPP is far from a routine bureaucratic exercise. It's a sprawling trade pact being negotiated in secret between Canada and 11 other countries. It contains a wide range of problematic provisions that could strip users of their rights over their devices, content, and online activities.

Worse, this deal could keep 20 years of cultural works locked up under copyright's heavy restrictions.

Hollywood and other major publishers are demanding that all TPP nations extend their copyright terms to match that of the United States—which is currently the lifetime of the author plus 70 years. That means that countless pieces of literature, film, music, and all kinds of creativity that were scheduled to enter the public domain in Canada would remain restricted and less accessible for decades. Canadian officials have long resisted extending copyright terms, but the TPP threatens to override this democratically affirmed stance.

It's never been more urgent to tell party leaders to come out against the TPP and denounce these excessive copyright terms.

If you're a Canadian voter, please use our site to send an email to party leaders.

We want to send thousands of messages to Canadian officials asking them to come out against this harmful proposal.

Once you've taken action, please remember to ask your friends to join you by sharing this on Twitter, Facebook, and your other social networking sites. It’s as easy as posting this message:

Canada's copyright term should be decided by Canadians, not the U.S. and Hollywood. Stop the TPP Copyright Trap: https://eff.org/r.grd5

Thank you for your helping defend creativity and access to culture works in Canada and beyond.

Defending your rights in the digital world,

Maira Sutton

International Team

Electronic Frontier Foundation