ADD YOUR VOICE

Let Ottawa know that they must act now to save the livelihoods of Canadian creators.

I am writing to you today about the continuing need to urgently fix Canada’s broken copyright regime. Changes to the Copyright Act made in 2012—particularly the inclusion of an ambiguous fair dealing exception for education--have deprived Canadian writers, visual artists and publishers of royalties for the copying and sharing of their published works in educational institutions outside of Quebec for almost 12 full years.

To date, more than $200M in royalties have been lost by Canada’s creative sector, funds that would have otherwise been paid to creators and publishers. This massive loss of revenue has significantly impacted the ability of Canada’s creator and publisher communities to continue telling our stories; both in the challenge for creators to make a sustainable living from their work as well as for publishers to reinvest in the Canadian-specific learning resources that the education sector relies on. 

Quebec’s educational institutions continue to respect their agreements and pay royalties to creators and publishers for using copyright-protected work. When a work is copied by a school in Quebec, for example, a royalty is paid to the creator and the publisher, regardless of geographic location, but when the same work is copied outside of Quebec, rightsholders receive nothing. This is an untenable disparity in a federation like Canada that must be resolved through amendments to the Copyright Act.

The government has acknowledged Canada’s copyright regime is broken and has pledged to take action to repair the marketplace for educational publishing. Yet, creators and publishers continue to wait for the government to undertake meaningful copyright reform.

A ready-made solution is already on the books. It’s found in the recommendations contained in the 2019 Shifting Paradigms report by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage that received unanimous support across party lines. 

What’s at stake is the future of Canadian content for students and for education. 

Canadian creators and publishers expect copyright reform to be addressed during this fall’s legislative session. Let’s get it done. Can we count on your support?

Recipients:

François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry

Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage

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Your Voice Is Needed Together, We Can Fix The Copyright Act.

ADD YOUR VOICE

Let Ottawa know that they must act now to save the livelihoods of Canadian creators.

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Your Voice Is Needed
Together, We Can Fix The Copyright Act.