Among our priorities today, the first for ACTRA members is passage and adoption of the Beijing treaty. In Canada's Copyright Act, rights of performers in audiovisual works are minimal. This arbitrary exclusion means that our actors and performers don't receive the legislated protection that others in the creative class receive, and it means we're leaving money on the table in countries around the world, money that could be flowing to Canadian performers.
If Canada signs and implements WIPO’s Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, we could change that. By adopting the Beijing treaty, we would protect our performers’ moral rights in audiovisual works and protect the right to remuneration for the exploitation of their works.
There are several reasons I want to lay out for the passage of the Beijing treaty.
First, it's a basic issue of fairness. These are rights that performers on sound recordings have already been afforded through the Rome convention in the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. Audiovisual performers—actors—are simply seeking the same rights.
Second, new rights would underpin the collective bargaining we have been doing for three-quarters of a century at ACTRA. Being part of an international treaty will help performers and the producers they work with ensure their rights are respected when their work is used abroad.
Third, economic rights would provide security for performers in the digital shift. We simply do not know how production and distribution models will change in the next 5 to 10 years. They've certainly changed a lot in the last 5 to 10 years. Having copyright protection will ensure performers can share in the economic returns generated by their creative works.
Finally, the moral rights would provide performers with basic rights as artists to have their name associated with the work of their choosing and to object to any modification or change that would injure their reputation.
Seventy-eight countries have signed this vital treaty and are in the process of ratifying. Adopting it would be an overdue step for performers and would bring Canada in line with the international community.