Thank you, Madam Chair.
This question would be for Ms. Mitchell. We're looking at what's in CUSMA with respect to extending the copyright terms to 70 years after an artist has passed. You have to question how this really allows for innovation and creativity within the industry.
I would like to refer to the very comprehensive statutory review of the Copyright Act this committee conducted in the last Parliament. It was very comprehensive, with 52 meetings and hundreds of witnesses, briefs and emails.
Once you look through all of that communication, there does not appear to be an overall consensus or an agreement among the artists and people within the industry on how to move forward.
I'm wondering if you can comment. I'll give you one quote from a well-known author and composer, Bryan Adams. He commented that extending the terms of the copyright “essentially enriches large firms of intermediaries, without providing money to creators”. Could you comment on that point and on how this would help, overall, the actual creators themselves?