Canadian Heritage committee  We're definitely not the empowered ones on the author side. To answer that question about litigation, why would you litigate—

Canadian Heritage committee  —especially when the courts are very clear? The reason is that our advocate is Access Copyright. It collects the royalties and it has cash. We're The Writers' Union of Canada. We're a leading Canadian arts organization. However, we don't have deep pockets. Access Copyright is o

Canadian Heritage committee  I'd like to ask the committee not to get distracted by digital disruption. Don't use that to distract you from the fact that the education sector is illegally copying works of authors.

Canadian Heritage committee  These are two separate issues. Don't worry about it. Every day, we work as authors and try to earn a living.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's tough.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. The Writers' Union has asked for significant statutory damages, and that has not been put into the revision.

Canadian Heritage committee  The one thing I would say is that writers are facing death by a thousand paper cuts, basically. Right now, according to our survey, about 45% of our income comes from traditional royalties, so while the education sector—

Canadian Heritage committee  The principle is that it's content that has been created—it costs money, and authors and publishers are investing in that—and it's being used by universities in ways that go well beyond fair dealing. The Federal Court has established that and the Copyright Board has established t

Canadian Heritage committee  It goes without saying that I think the publishers are our partners in the writing and publishing industry. We also see eye to eye on the educational front. In terms of the digital commons idea, I think that increasingly writers and publishers are looking for new platforms and w

Canadian Heritage committee  Good morning, and thanks for the invitation to present on behalf of The Writers' Union of Canada. Our organization represents 2,100 professional authors across the country, and we chair the International Authors Forum, with over 700,000 members globally. Copyright is core to h