July 14, 2023
Canadian Authors Association (CAA) reacts with profound dismay to Access Copyright’s recent announcement of its forced restructuring. Access Copyright, the collective for Canadian writers, visual artists and publishers, is downsizing as a direct consequence of the disastrous 2012 amendments to the Copyright Act and the current government’s failure to fix them, despite repeated promises to deliver copyright reforms.
“It’s a wretched day in Canada when our sole literary collective shrinks as a result of a broken copyright system,” said Travis Croken, Co-chair of CAA. “We’ve decried the situation for over ten years, and nothing has happened. As one Quebec commentator observed, Canada is the dunce in the international classroom when it comes to protecting and uplifting our creators.”
CAA stands beside Access and its reduced team who have ardently pressed the government to fix fair dealing for at least 12 of its 35 years. We are deeply disillusioned by the failure in federal leadership that has resulted in such lasting damage to Canadian cultural industries, including the hollowing out of Access Copyright as an organization meant to protect and support them.
Those damages are clearly understood: $20 million in lost royalties under Board-approved tariffs over the last ten years, plus inestimable costs to creators personally, and heavy losses to the Canadian publishing industry.
The Access announcement does not come as a complete surprise. The Liberal Party, while in opposition in 2012, warned of threats to the literary community when education was added to the list of fair dealing exceptions. Yet seven years into a Liberal mandate, that very government has done nothing but spout unfulfilled budget commitments and languishing Ministry mandates.
CAA calls on the ministers who are jointly responsible for copyright reform – the Ministers of Canadian Heritage and of Innovation, Science and Economic Development – to collaborate expeditiously to fulfill their explicit mandates to fix the copyright system, and upon the prime minister to ensure this happens quickly.
Canada matters. Canadian cultural industries and stories matter to Canadians. Canadian stories matter in schools and bookstores, on newsstands and in broadcasting. The cultural industry matters when Canadian students contemplate a career in writing or publishing, and when authors think about committing additional months and years to craft yet another story for which they will not be paid. It matters when Canadians look, in vain, for representation within the body of Canadian culture, or for kindred voices expressing their own life experiences. The hollowing of Access Copyright is a hollow victory for those opposed to rebalancing the copyright scales with Copyright Act reform – because original and relevant Canadian content that they want for free will become even more scarce.
The Liberal government promised to fix the Copyright Act. Without evidence of progress, or even meaningful effort, dire consequences such as the diminishment of Access Copyright are inevitable.
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Canadian Authors Association was founded in 1921 with a goal of lobbying for the protection of authors’ rights and fostering a sense of cultural and literary solidarity among Canadian writers. Today, CAA and its branches continue to work to provide aspiring, emerging and professional writers across all genres and writing professions the programs, services, and resources they need to develop their skills, promote their work, and enhance their ability to earn a living as a writer.
For additional information, contact:
Travis Croken, National Co-Chair
travis.croken@me.com