Government fails to protect intellectual property by presenting photocopy of flawed Bill C-32
Toronto – Creators are disappointed that the Conservative government has ignored months of input from thousands of Canadians by reintroducing flawed copyright legislation. Unfortunately the proposed legislation contains the same damaging clauses that threaten the ability of Canadian creators to earn a living from their work and were the hallmark of the Conservative government’s last failed copyright bill.
“The government has literally just slapped a new number on the deeply-flawed Bill C-32 instead of listening to months of testimony from dozens of creators’ groups,” said Ferne Downey, ACTRA National President. “ACTRA submitted reasonable and workable recommendations that would make copyright more effective for everyone. It’s disappointing to see that they didn’t craft a bill that reflects the reality of 21st century artists – a new session of Parliament deserves a new copyright bill.”
ACTRA had argued for new copyright laws that support creators and their businesses, big and small, by allowing them to control, licence and monetize their intellectual property and work. Unfortunately, Bill C-11 suffers from the same flaws as its predecessor, including overly permissive language surrounding fair dealing for the purpose of education, a user generated content provision that would allow consumers to re-edit a copyright holder’s work without their permission and legalizing format-shifting without building on existing royalty systems that compensate creators.
“We understand copyright legislation is long overdue, but that’s no excuse to push through a bill that does more harm than good,” added Downey. “I sincerely hope that the government will strive to work in good faith with its industry partners in order to produce a final version of this bill that works for users and creators alike.”
ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) is the national organization of professional performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada. ACTRA represents the interests of 22,000 members across Canada – the foundation of Canada’s highly acclaimed professional performing community.
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Contact: Carol Taverner, Public Relations Officer, ACTRA, Tel: 416.644.1519, ctaverner@actra.ca
