Ottawa, June 6, 2010.
Copyright legislation introduced on June 3 into the House of Commons is an alarming attack on Canadian culture that will create a copyright-free zone in Canadian schools, colleges and universities and will erode the incomes of Canadian writers.
In addition to all the existing exemptions for education, Bill C-32 introduces a very broad and vague provision into the Copyright Act that will lead to uncertainty and litigation. It will expand unpaid uses of copyright material for educational purposes and conflict with the licensing of writers’ works. Not only will it expropriate the rights of writers and creators but it will violate Canada’s international treaty obligations.
The proposed change to the section of the bill known as “fair dealing” will take many dollars from the incomes of Canadian writers, most of whom earn less than $15,000 annually from their writing. A significant portion of this income comes from the copying of their works in schools, colleges and universities. Writers want their works to be used in schools, but they need to be paid.
Over the past four decades writers have produced a body of literature – both fiction and non-fiction – that is admired around the world and is a source of pride to Canadians. Copyright legislation should provide the legal protection for creators’ works and allow creators to earn a reasonable income from their use.
Will our legislators proceed with this expropriation of writers’ rights by giving educational institutions a broad right to copy substantial amounts of their work without compensation? The Government’s proposed “fair dealing for education” provision may sound like a good thing because it will save money for educational institutions, but this will be money taken from the pockets of writers and their publishers who create and produce works that form the foundation of the cultural identity of Canada.
The Writers’ Union of Canada calls on the Canadian Government to withdraw this “fair dealing for education” provision in Bill C-32, which takes rights from creators and endangers their incomes. If Bill C-32 passes without this change, the Union will have no alternative but to pursue other possibilities, including class action litigation, to void this provision, and will call on other organizations to join in any such challenge.
The Writers’ Union of Canada is resolved to fight this attack on writers and their fellow creators and on the creative communities of our country.
