Copibec is pleased that Canadian Heritage Committee recognizes importance of fixing Copyright Act


Copibec is pleased that Canadian Heritage Committee recognizes importance of fixing Copyright Act

NEWS RELEASE
Copibec is pleased that Canadian Heritage Committee recognizes importance of fixing Copyright Act

Montreal, May 16, 2019 – Copibec is pleased with the recommendations in the Shifting Paradigms report released by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Noting that economic conditions have deteriorated in the arts and culture sector, the Committee indicated that the Copyright Act needs to be reviewed so that adequate compensation can be ensured for creators when their content is used.

“We applaud the Committee members for wanting to limit how fair dealing is applied for education purposes and for supporting collective licensing, a compensation model that has proven its effectiveness,” stated Frédérique Couette, Executive Director of Copibec.

The report sets out a number of recommendations for the writing and publishing industry:

- That the Government of Canada amend the Copyright Act to clarify that fair dealing should not apply to educational institutions when the work is commercially available (Recommendation 18)
- That the Government of Canada promote a return to licensing through collective societies (Recommendation 19)
- That the Government of Canada review, harmonize and improve the enforcement of the statutory damages for infringement for non-commercial use in section 38.1(1) of the Copyright Act (Recommendation 20)
- That the Government of Canada harmonize remedies for collective societies under the Copyright Act (Recommendation 21)

The report contains a total of 22 recommendations based on the Committee’s examination of compensation models for artists and creators. “We now hope that the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, which is overseeing the five-year review of the Copyright Act, will take those recommendations into account,” Frédérique Couette added. “Authors and publishers are eagerly awaiting the Government’s response to this report as well as the concrete solutions that will be put forward to address the issues.”

A group of 16 associations, including Copibec, recently launched the campaign A Life Without Art? Really? to highlight the essential role of art in our daily lives and the importance of fair compensation so that art can continue to thrive.

The Committee’s mandate was to conduct a study on compensation models for artists and creative industries, including rights management, and make recommendations to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology as part of the parliamentary review of the Copyright Act. The Committee heard from witnesses and received briefs from stakeholders in all the relevant industries, which comprised copyright owners and the users of copyrighted content such as the education sector. Copibec was one of the organizations that appeared before the Committee and submitted a brief.

Copibec commends the work done by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, especially Committee Chair Julie Dabrusin and the Honorable Steven Blaney and Pierre Nantel, Vice-Chairs.

-30-

About Copibec
Copibec is a non-profit social enterprise created in 1997 by the Union des écrivaines et écrivains québécois (UNEQ) and the Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL) to manage the reproduction rights for content in paper and digital formats. It has the authority to manage the reproduction rights for thousands of Quebec authors and publishers as well as the authors and publishers represented by reproduction rights organizations in 33 countries, including the United States, France and Belgium.

Source:
Kevin Charron
Communications Coordinator
[email protected] 
1-800-717-2022 ext. 249
www.copibec.ca