Putting copyright on the agenda

Election campaign provided opportunities to get people talking about arts and culture.

Executive Director’s update

Executive Director’s updateWhile the federal election was underway, Copibec continued to remind candidates that creators and their publishers deserve fair compensation for the use of their content. We’ve been pushing the political parties to make a commitment to limit the number and scope of exceptions in the Copyright Act. Unfortunately, the arts and culture sector wasn’t a major topic of discussion during the election but it’s a fundamental issue and your copyright collective is using every means at its disposal to get people talking about it at the political level.

Copibec connecting and reaching out

Copibec and various other associations are members of IFRRO, which will be holding its annual meeting soon. Your copyright collective will be attending again this year. I’ll therefore by flying to Edinburgh in late October to discuss copyright issues and report on our situation in Quebec.

My team and I will also be present at the next Montreal book fair to be held from November 20 to 25. We’ll be on-site to increase awareness and motivate the community in favour of a Copyright Act that finally protects the rights of our creators and ensures that they receive fair compensation for the use of their content. Stop by and see us there!

By then, once the new government is up and running, we hope it will acknowledge the damage caused by the Act’s 2012 amendments and recognize the essential role of the arts and culture sector in our society.

Upcoming special edition

To mark the end of a year full of political events and the start of the Montreal book fair, our November issue will be a little different. We’ll be putting together a special edition where we give an update on copyright in Canada. It will include an overview of significant events and news, plus everything you need to know about what will be happening next. In the meantime, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay informed about what’s going on.

Frédérique Couette
Executive Director

Copyright news from Canada and beyond

Google won’t pay newspaper and magazine publishers in France

Google has found a way around the European copyright directive in France, which was the first EU country to apply it. Under new French legislation, “neighbouring rights” have been introduced so that newspaper and magazine publishers will be paid royalties. To avoid paying those royalties, however, Google will no longer display article headings, descriptions and images in its search results. Publishers can give their authorization to have the detailed results displayed. But there’s a catch: they can’t claim the royalties.

Read the article in La Presse (in French).

Political debate with strong media presence but not much culture

A major political debate on culture and media was held on September 18, 2019 in Montreal. The Web giants issue took up much of the time and the representatives from the arts and culture sector quickly realized that entire segments were being ignored while the biggest players were getting all the attention. The theatre, dance and book segments were among those sidelined.

Read the article in Le Devoir (in French).

Coalition for Culture and Media calls for action from federal candidates

The Coalition for Culture and Media encouraged candidates in the federal election to take concrete measures to re-establish fiscal fairness between Canadian and foreign companies. It also asked that the Copyright Act review be completed quickly.

Read the press release from the Coalition for Culture and Media.

Political debate on culture and media: the courage to take action

With creators’ revenues melting away and the media industry in crisis mode, stakeholders from the cultural and media sectors were concerned as they came together in Montreal on September (...)

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