One of the important examples in legal precedent would be in Films Rachel Inc. v. Druker & Associés Inc. et al, in the Superior Court of Quebec. In a dispute between the creator and the producer, the holding was that the writer and director of the film under consideration was the author, and therefore the first holder of copyright.
The federal Status of the Artist Act equates directors responsible for the overall direction of audiovisual works with authors of artistic, dramatic, literary, or musical works, all of whom are authors under the current act. An amendment to recognize writers and directors as authors will bring the Copyright Act into line with other federal legislation that also recognizes the authorial nature of the director's role, so there is some judicial and also legislative recognition of this core idea of authorship for directors and writers in film.
The Canadian film industry also operates on the basic working assumption that directors and screenwriters have authors' rights. The DGC negotiates collective agreements that provides payment for directors for uses made of their works. The transfer of exploitation rights to producers through these contracts recognizes that directors are the first owners of copyright—in other words, the authors of the work. Screenwriters' contracts also recognize their copyright ownership of audiovisual work, including profit-sharing provisions allowing for the collection of residual payments.
A technical amendment for Bill C-11 on this question creates no new rights, but it brings important clarity to the question of authorship. The amendment we're suggesting would end up in subclause 2(2), with a definitional reference that defines “author” as follows:
“author”, in the case of a cinematographic work in which the arrangement or acting form or any combination of incidents represented give the work a dramatic character, means the writer and director of such cinematographic work.
As we noted earlier, such an amendment is necessary to give full effect to some of the changes in the government's proposals in Bill C-11. For example, the bill aims to clarify what constitutes an infringement of moral rights, but moral rights attach only to authors and performers, and without a definition of “author” for audiovisual works, directors and screenwriters are unable to assert moral rights for their work.
Bill C-11 introduces a number of provisions regarding digital rights management information. DRM information is akin to a kind of digital watermark, providing information about the work and an ability to track it, and one of the important pieces of information is the author of the work. The provisions in Bill C-11 that prohibit the removal or altering of rights management information are of value to directors and writers who wish to protect their rights and royalties collected in other jurisdictions, so we need to be identified in the act as authors.
Audiovisual creators should be dealt into all of these protections that authors of other works enjoy under the act. It's particularly important in a digital age, in which content can be sent around the world with new-found ease and at a time when piracy and worldwide distribution are but a mouse-click away. Clarity on the issue of authorship is vital to protect Canadian creators, including directors and screenwriters.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I hope there will be some questions on this general area.