What Does It Mean That James Bond’s In the Public Domain In Canada?

io9 looks at the copyright status of James Bond:

“On January 1st, 2015, the works of Ian Fleming entered the public domain in a number of countries. That means that the character of James Bond is no longer copyrighted in those countries, just like Sherlock Holmes has been for a while. But it doesn’t mean that it’s suddenly open season on that character.

But why now and what exactly does it mean?”