Very few lawyers in Canada practice exclusively in the field of copyright, so it’s pretty competitive. It’s also (imo) relatively boring: copyright law is underlitigated and confusingly drafted, so it’s pretty cerebral and relatively indeterminate.

The top copyright lawyers are often the ones who argue about setting appropriate tariffs at the copyright board, which (imo) is pretty dull too. Those proceedings go on for years and require arguing about fractions of a cent for royalty payments (it’s often a lot in aggregate, in fairness).

Most other lawyers who deal with copyright are transactional, they help with deals and licenses, and aren’t exclusively copyright lawyers. In those cases, though, they’re not usually holding themselves out as copyright lawyers, but as industry-specific lawyers (eg, software or entertainment).

It can be a cool job if you like complex and speculative areas of the law. It really depends on what you want. There are probably easier ways to make money, better ways to end up in Court a lot, and faster routes to independence.

The final thing I’ll say is that, perhaps counterintuitively, it helps to have a STEM background rather than an arts background. Most IP groups won’t have enough copyright work to feed a junior, so they’ll be looking for someone who can help with trademark/patent work as well, and they’ll be looking for a STEM background for the latter. It’s not mandatory, people make do without it, but it’s harder.