Parliamentary action alone can provide copyright infringement relief
For Immediate Release – February 29, 2024
Last week’s Federal Court ruling against Access Copyright in the legal action involving the Ontario school boards and provincial/territorial education ministries (except for British Columbia and Quebec) reinforces that Parliament alone has the power to fix the fractured copyright landscape in Canada. In finding that the education and school board plaintiffs were not required to pay tariffs, the Federal Court’s decision demonstrates the absence of collective tools available to writers, artists and publishers to defend creator rights, and to protect the availability of Canadian content and focus within our nation’s classrooms, and indeed, our national culture.
The federal government has frequently expressed its intention to repair the broken Canadian copyright system yet has thus far failed to keep its promises. It’s the end of the line, in terms both of solutions and time, in a situation that requires immediate government action.
“We were dismayed to learn of the ruling in this case,” says Travis Croken, Canadian Authors Association National Co-chair. “It is a devastating blow to the entire literary landscape and yet another setback for Canadian authors. We have passed the phase of desperation and now face an outrageous and impossible situation in which the only way for individual authors to enforce their copyright is to directly sue infringers. We call upon the government of Canada to fix our broken system before it is too late.”
Canadian Authors Association (CAA), founded in 1921, was formed expressly to advocate for copyright laws to protect Canadian creators. Over 100 years later, and now in concert with Access Copyright and numerous creator and publisher groups across Canada, we raise our collective voice urging crucial amendments to the Copyright Act to guard the rights of Canadian creators facing unmonitored, unpaid, and unfair reproduction and distribution of their work.
CAA urges the federal government to reform the law to stem the staggering losses and remove tangible threats facing workers in the creative industries. Specifically, the Copyright Act should be amended to clearly provide as follows:
- The fair dealing exception for educational purposes only applies where a work is not commercially available under license by the owner or a collective;
- Tariffs approved by the Copyright Board of Canada are and have always been enforceable when copyright protection is infringed upon; and
- Statutory damages are rebalanced so the penalties for infringement act as a true deterrent to mass uncompensated copying.
The concept of “copyright-protected works” for which CAA fought so ardently a century ago is at risk of extinction unless Parliament works now to protect the rights of Canadian creators and publishers. Conversely, government inaction will decimate the Canadian literary landscape, the livelihoods of writers, illustrators, and publishers, and the availability of creative works that reflect Canadian culture.
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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