Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thanks to everyone for their presentations.
By way of introduction, let me give you a quick editorial on the review of the Copyright Act by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
Our basic objective is, as a minimum, to take a favourable approach to copyright. As a result, our job is not to offer a bargain to consumers, but to ensure that Canadian, Quebec and aboriginal cultures continue to flourish.
We must remember that our primary objective is to safeguard copyright. Let me share an anecdote with you. You probably saw the value of the transaction between EMI and Sony—it was reported in the news this morning. This should be mentioned. The composer Pharrell Williams had a huge hit with his song, Happy. That song is in the catalogue that Sony just bought from EMI. Copyright and dissemination rights for this song on streaming services have earned Pharrell Williams $200,000. It is a huge international hit and it has earned him 100 times what Elton John earned for his song, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
What I am getting at is that creators now earn micro-pennies on streaming services. We have a great responsibility as a committee. To be honest, let me say right away that, politically speaking, this issue is like a glass full of gravel, a mouthful of sand. It is very dry and very complex. The public does not understand much about these issues. Moreover, there are not a lot of political gains to be had.
This is the right thing to do.
But doing it will be difficult.
In that context, can you illustrate the hot issues you told us about earlier? You said that the only hot issue that everyone agrees on is the Copyright Board of Canada.
I will start there, but, if possible, could you send us, ideally in writing, a list of the hot issues? Personally, I have been interested in this issue for a long time and I am familiar with it. But even I find it a hornet's nest. A series of issues is involved and they seem very theoretical to us. That is why I wanted to tell you the Pharrell Williams story because it gives you an idea of the extent to which things have changed.
Through you, Madam Chair, I would like to ask Ms. Théberge to send us a list of hot issues.