Supporting culture

Growing number of initiatives to support the cultural sector

Executive Director's update

It seems like the warm weather is here to stay and there are signs that the cultural sector is coming out of lockdown. That’s also true of Copibec. However, we’ll continue to operate remotely for the entire month of June and we hope to gradually get back into the office over the summer, depending on the guidelines issued by public health officials.

Supporting the Quebec book industry

At the end of May, Copibec and the Association des libraires du Québec encouraged their teams to buy Quebec books. That initiative was part of a broader “buy local” movement and was intended to support the Quebec book industry, which has been hard-hit by the fallout from the pandemic and the general shutdown. To follow our lead, create an account on the leslibraires.ca site or go to your local bookstore. Share what you’ve read on social media by using the hashtags #jelisbleu and #jelisbleuchezlesindependants.

Direct deposit

We’re continuing our efforts to implement royalty distributions by direct deposit. Deploying this new payment method is taking a little longer than expected because of the impact of the pandemic and working from home. Rest assured our team is doing what it takes to pay out the funds as quickly as possible.

Anyone who’ll be receiving an upcoming payment will be contacted by email. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact our rightsholder services team.

Summer break

Your newsletter will be taking a break in July and August. We’ll be back in September after some vacation time. We realize the situation is evolving rapidly so we’ll continue to give updates about our activities and the latest news throughout the summer. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to make sure you don’t miss anything.

All of us here on the Copibec team hope you have a great summer. Take care of yourself and those around you!

Frédérique Couette
Executive Director

Copyright news from Canada and beyond

$400 million for Quebec’s cultural sector

Artists had to wait for more than two months but the Quebec government finally announced a $400 million assistance program for the cultural sector. Of that total, $109 million had already been paid out to cultural organizations. Another $50 million will also be allocated to loans administered by the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC).

Read the article from Radio-Canada.

Exponential growth in online book sales

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the buying habits of Quebec readers. In April, the leslibraires.ca site registered a 1297% spike in online book sales! Nevertheless, that increase wasn’t enough to offset the losses incurred by booksellers after their stores had to shut down.

Read the article from Radio-Canada.

Lawsuit against Internet Archive

As mentioned in our April newsletter, the Internet Archive platform offered over a million documents without any restrictions, claiming there was an urgent need for access to content because of the pandemic. Following a lawsuit filed by U.S. publishers supported by the Association of American Publishers, the platform ceased operations on June 16.

Read the article from The Independent.

How to get an ISBN

What do you need to do if you’re ready to publish your first book as a new publishing house or self-published author? You’ll need to complete various steps to make sure your book launch (...)

Support booksellers and the talents who create books in Quebec

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SUPPORT BOOKSELLERS AND THE TALENTS WHO CREATE BOOKS IN QUEBEC