On May 2, I attended the National Culture Summit in Ottawa. When I heard the opening remarks from the Canadian Heritage Minister, my hopes were revived because he confirmed that updating the Copyright Act was a priority for him.

There’s still no timeline but all the stakeholders have been mobilized to support ministers Pablo Rodriguez and François-Philippe Champagne in this course of action.  

However, I can see dark clouds gathering in the distance and my concern is that it’s not going to be an easy ride, that we’ll have to fight hard to get what we want and that it will take a long time before a fair outcome is achieved.

On May 31 and June 1, Copibec will attend the event What future for copyright in Canada? organized in Ottawa by the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Gilles Herman, Copibec’s Chair of the Board, will take part in the panel on the Supreme Court Decision in York University v. Access Copyright: Implications and Challenges for Authors and Publishers.

Did you know Copibec is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year? We’ll be sharing more details soon in conjunction with the Annual General Meeting to be held on June 21.

— Christian Laforce, Executive Director