COVID-19 pandemic: Copibec is taking action

The COVID-19 pandemic forces a change of plans.

Executive Director’s update

The situation in Quebec and all around the world is peculiar and Copibec is no exception. Since March 16, 2020, our team is working from home to slow down the COVID-19 propagation and to protect the health of our colleagues and loved-ones. We still provide our services and our team remains available to answer your questions.

Creators of artistic works can still register for visual arts payment. However, we can’t tell when they can expect royalties due the circumstances. We will keep you informed of any development.

Since schools in Quebec are now closed for the next few weeks, the deadline for the second reporting period has been extended.

Education sector

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline for second reporting period is extended to April 30. If you’re a teacher or education professional and your school is included in the data collection process, you’re required to report the content you reproduce. You would like to get a head start? Check out our tips on how to report your data.

By participating in this process, you help ensure that creators will be compensated for the use of their content and will be able to continue telling the stories of tomorrow. Your role is essential! Your role is essential! It’s even more true in these uncertain times where creators are loosing contracts and the payments associated to those lost contracts.

Want more details? View our video!

Visual arts

If you’re the creator of an artistic work, you have a couple of days left to register your publications for the visual arts payment. If you haven’t already done so, log into your online account right away and complete your registration. The registration deadline remains unchanged: Friday, March 20. As for when the checks will be issued, stay tuned! We will keep you informed.

More than 1,700 artists benefitted from last year’s payment. Don’t miss this opportunity!

To find out the latest copyright news and stay up to date on what your copyright collective has been doing, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Frédérique Couette
Executive Director

Copyright news from Canada and beyond

Copyrighted material offered illegally to students

Designed to help students prepare for exams, the StuDocu platform offers course notes, exam questions and material created by teaching personnel. In addition to the fact that the content may be protected by the Copyright Act, Université Laval is concerned about the quality of the documents shared.

Read the article from Radio-Canada.

Google and news publishers negotiating

After being criticized widely by the media, Internet giant Google is finally negotiating licensing agreements to compensate news publishers for displaying links to their websites via Google News. However, Google is still refusing to pay for the article headlines and snippets appearing in search results.

Read the article from Radio-Canada.

Thousands of jobs lost to book piracy in Italy

About 8,800 jobs, including 3,600 in publishing houses alone, have been lost in Italy because of illegal downloading and unreported content reproduction, representing losses of nearly €528 million. A fitting reminder about the important economic role played by the arts and culture sector.

Read the article from Publishing Perspectives.

Copibec user logs: Why it’s important to report your content use

What would your classes be like without textbooks, exercise books or literature? Can you imagine your school without the content generated by creators?

The content you rely on when teaching (...)

Upcoming events and important dates

Visual artists

- March 20: Deadline for registering for the visual arts payment

Education sector

Data collection

- April 30: End of the 2nd reporting period
- June 30: End of the 3rd reporting period

Out and about

- April 16 and 17: Convention of the Association québécoise des enseignants de français langue seconde (AQEFLS)