A Canadian coalition in the book industry is putting pressure again on Ottawa to carry out a review of the Canadian Copyright Act. In a joint statement released Thursday, the movement, representing all the major associations of authors and publishers in Quebec and Canada, requests a meeting with the Minister of Heritage and her colleague from Innovation, Science and Technology. Industry to obtain future payment of copyright by Canadian educational institutions.
Universities, colleges and schools have been exempt from these fees since 2012, under the idea of “fair use for educational purposes”, for texts copied and distributed to students. The shortfall of publishers and authors is estimated at around 200 million over the past decade.
“The issue is still very hot, and obviously we are not being answered,” said the Duty Geneviève Pigeon, president of the National Association of Book Publishers (ANEL), which brings together the vast majority of French-language publishing houses in the country. “The review was announced in the 2022 budget and we forgot to address it. We are told that it will be in the next budget and we are quite skeptical, even though it is important to redistribute the money that goes to authors and publishers. »
The joint statement was also signed by Access Copyright, the Association of Canadian Publishers, the Association of Canadian Authors, the Canadian Council of Publishers, the Union of Quebec Writers (UNEQ) and COPIBEC, the Quebec society of collective management of reproduction rights.
The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage recommended a review of the law in 2019. A new report unveiled last week also proposed legislative changes to force the educational world to respect copyright. The middle of the book periodically returns to the charge with its demand for legislative revision.
In English Canada, outside of Quebec, educational establishments no longer pay money to publishers and authors for the use of their texts. The situation is different in Quebec following specific agreements with COPIBEC.
“Because of a change to the law in 2012, we are not able to enforce our rights everywhere,” said the president of ANEL. We are taking advantage of the recent arrival of Pascale St-Onge at the head of the Ministry of Heritage to relaunch the debate. In addition, in the entire history of this controversy, there has never been a meeting on this specific subject between a Minister of Heritage and a Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. These people need to talk to each other. Creators need it. The authors are not rich and they do not receive what is due to them. »