Evidence of meeting #119 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was materials.
A video is available from Parliament.
4:15 p.m.
President, Professional Writers Association of Canada
I think I would just add that, when it comes to published works, the Copyright Board does oversee those. I think what you're suggesting, a regulatory process as opposed to a legislative process, might be something that PWAC would definitely be interested in working on with you in further consultation.
4:15 p.m.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Yes. That's what I fear. We're hearing of quite a bit of disruption and disturbance amongst creative society. I also believe that, when you change rules, if there are going to be people who are affected by government policy, amelioration should be part of that change. It seems to me that there's a lot of artists and creators who are still trying to figure things out.
4:15 p.m.
President, Professional Writers Association of Canada
That's very true. I think what we want to stress is that we do want to share our work, we want to have our work read and appreciated, and we want to be fairly compensated for that work. In past reviews, perhaps things were skewed a bit more to the end user, and somewhere the creator got lost in the shuffle. We want to make sure there is a balance, that the rights of the creator and the rights to the user are kept in check.
4:15 p.m.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
If nothing changes over the next three years, can you do any crystal ball gazing? What is your greatest fear?
4:15 p.m.
President, Professional Writers Association of Canada
I think the greatest fear is that, as more work does go from the print format to the electronic format and therefore can be shared much more quickly and more widely, the rights to that work will be lost. People find things on the Internet and they share them, and they don't necessarily take the time to figure out who wrote that in the first place and who that belongs to. That kind of goes along and it snowballs. That would be my fear. I think I can speak for the writers and the others in our association. We want to make sure our rights don't get lost in that shuffle.
4:15 p.m.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
I'm just going to indulge the Canadian Council of Archives, just to thank you for your work. I know that sometimes you probably don't get the glory, in archives.
However, a true story is that when I was on city council, it was our municipal archives that led to the repatriation of the Windsor-Detroit tunnel on the Canadian side, its coming back to public ownership. This is significant because there was an archived document of the original agreement that put it in the private sector, through a P3, which they didn't want to relinquish. By the time we received the tunnel back, it was ready to float down the river because of the erosion on the top. We couldn't find people to replicate the actual exhaust and fan system, and it immediately required millions of dollars. To this day, it pays significant revenue for the City of Windsor and is a critical piece of Canada's infrastructure.
I'll just conclude by saying thank you to you and your members, who probably have not envisioned the glory, but you have actually saved one of Canada's significant pieces of infrastructure.
4:20 p.m.
Special Advisor, Copyright, Canadian Council of Archives
Thank you. That's what we do. That's what we're all about. It's about accountability and keeping the public record.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Dan Ruimy
Thank you.
May I say I've never seen this bridge of yours, but I have a clear vision in my mind because I've heard about it for the last three years. You're going to have to take us on a tour.
4:20 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
4:20 p.m.
Special Advisor, Copyright, Canadian Council of Archives
I've crossed it many times, but I didn't know that story.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Dan Ruimy
There you go.
We're going to move to Mr. Lametti. You have seven minutes.
Oh, sorry, I got the wrong David. It's Mr. Graham.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
David Graham Liberal Laurentides—Labelle, QC
These naming conflicts; it's like in a computer file system.
Are there any circumstances in which you believe the use of a technological protection measure should override other copyright rules or fair dealing exceptions?
4:20 p.m.
Special Advisor, Copyright, Canadian Council of Archives
Sorry, could you repeat that?
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
David Graham Liberal Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Is there any time that you believe it's appropriate for a technological protection measure to override fair dealing? Should that ever happen?
4:20 p.m.
Special Advisor, Copyright, Canadian Council of Archives
I'm trying to imagine that situation. No, I think that really, fair dealing should stand on its own. I don't think TPMs should stand in the way of fair dealing.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
David Graham Liberal Laurentides—Labelle, QC
I appreciate that. Thank you.
Do you have any comments, Christine?
4:20 p.m.
President, Professional Writers Association of Canada
No, I don't. I don't understand the TPMs well enough to comment on that.
4:20 p.m.
Special Advisor, Copyright, Canadian Council of Archives
You know, if it's something that's allowable in the act, a TPM should not prevent it from happening.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
David Graham Liberal Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Thank you. That's exactly what I'm looking for.
In the digital age, it's so easy to register things now, if we wanted to. Does it still make sense for copyright to apply to everything automatically, or should we be thinking about copyright being on a proactive registration as it used to be?
4:20 p.m.
Special Advisor, Copyright, Canadian Council of Archives
I think it should be automatic.