In terms of the royalties collected by copyright collective here and elsewhere, we are penalized in Canada because the presumption of joint copyright is not included in the Copyright Act. This weakens the ability of SAID in particular to collect directors' royalties outside the country.
We would like you to spell that out in the act. This is not revolutionary; it is consistent with case law. We are asking for this presumption to be included in the act.
We have described the work of the screenwriter and director of an audiovisual work. It is crystal clear that they are the primary owners of the audiovisual work. We would like this clarification added to give copyright collectives some leverage in collecting royalties for Canadians for works presented in other countries that have private copy regimes for audiovisual works. In some countries, in Europe for instance, there are colleges where producers, actors, and authors all collect royalties for private copies. That also includes directors.