I love this time of year! Even though I’m well beyond the age where I need to buy pencils and notebooks for the new school year, I always look forward to this season that can make people feel excited, impatient, concerned, hesitant and happy, all at the same time.

2023-2024 data collection/reporting

At Copibec, back to school means collecting data under our agreement with the Quebec education ministry. That’s when we contact the teachers in 400 preselected schools to ask them to report the copyrighted content they use and reproduce for their courses.

We’ve made some changes to help streamline the reporting process. Plus, we’ve asked author Simon Boulerice to highlight the positive impacts of the reporting process for authors and publishers.

In particular, I’d like to thank the Fédération québécoise des directions d'établissements d'enseignement (FQDE) for their support in reaching out to their members to promote data collection.

And when it comes to getting back to work, I have big expectations for federal minister St-Onge. I wonder if the Prime Minister’s mandate letter for the minister makes it clear that she should move forward with updating the Copyright Act? It would be a great way to start… after many false starts before.

In the meantime, the impacts of the federal government’s inaction in this file can be calculated not only in terms of the financial losses for the country’s entire literary sector but also in terms of the expertise being lost as Access Copyright takes steps to downsize. Unacceptable! 

And here are the contents of our September newsletter:

• Lise Létourneau — Engaging with culture
• Partnering with schools through the FQDE
• DONA adding volume(s)
• Law 25 — New requirements effective September 2023

Enjoy your reading and, above all, happy back-to-school!

— Christian Laforce, Executive Director