writers and publishers speak with one voice on copyright

This morning, a letter was sent to the administration and governance heads of universities and colleges across Canada, expressing support for the recent model collective licences signed by university and college organizations. It is a remarkable document, representing a broad coalition of writer and publisher groups and individuals. You can see for yourself that many of the individuals who signed the letter (including world-renowned author, Margaret Atwood and Canada's current Parliamentary Poet Laureate, Fred Wah) are post-secondary instructors as well as cultural workers.

Including all the signatories and organizations involved in creating the message, this letter represents the collective opinion of thousands of individual cultural workers in Canada. There can be no doubt that Canadian writers and publishers want their rights collectively represented in the educational market, and that they see collective licensing as the best solution for everyone in the licensing arrangement, educators and students included.

I am pleased to say I helped in the drafting of the letter, and I proudly signed it as a Canadian author. If the small number of rogue universities and colleges that have decided not to license Canadian work think Canada's writers and publishers won't notice, they might want to think again.

Here's the letter:

A message to Canada’s universities and colleges

from Canada’s writers and publishers

We, the undersigned, wish to thank and congratulate the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), the Association of Community Colleges of Canada (ACCC), and all the universities, colleges and academic libraries who have indicated their support for the model licences for blanket copyright clearance through Access Copyright.

As creators and producers of the important Canadian content used in lecture halls, seminars and institutions across the country, we license our copyrights to our collective society, Access Copyright, for greater efficiency. This arrangement has worked for more than two decades to ease clearance administration in post-secondary institutions and to ensure Canadian writers and publishers are compensated when our work is copied for educational use.

We believe the model licences endorsed by the AUCC and ACCC represent wins for students, librarians, universities, colleges, publishers, and creators. By licensing, for the first time, works in digital form, they provide new flexibility for anyone who uses copyright-protected material in higher education. By eliminating the per-page fee for course packs, they create very flexible clearance for students, who are the heaviest users of course materials. By covering an enormous range of copyright works, they allow scholars to access virtually anything they please, without the need to find rightsholders directly and negotiate one-off licences. And, by ensuring fair compensation for authors and publishers, these licences will contribute to the creation of new works.

We have heard the messages of those who advocate against the adoption of these licences, and we believe their concerns are based on misconceptions. These agreements do not require undue monitoring, and do not assume new rights. Collective licensing organizations like Access Copyright are invaluable partners to education, providing a crucial, streamlined link to those who create and produce educational materials. Remove the collective licensing option, and access to new materials would be needlessly complicated.

While Canada’s Copyright Modernization Act does increase exceptions, it does not change the essential logic or principle of copyright. When a writer’s work is used by others, the writer must be compensated. Where there are exceptions, the Act must continue to operate in a way that ensures writers’ incomes are not damaged, and the economic incentive to create the very works that institutions use is not diminished. As libraries and educational institutions discover new technologies and ways of sharing our work with students and the public, the royalty structure must follow suit.

We are disappointed that a small number of educational institutions and academic libraries have declared such licensing invalid or unnecessary. We remain hopeful that a closer examination of the licences will cause them to change their position. We want to thank you, the overwhelming majority of educational and information professionals in Canada, for setting a better example.

Angie Abdou    Author; full-time Instructor at College of the Rockies, British Columbia

Margaret Atwood     Author; former Instructor at the University of British Columbia, Sir George Williams University, University of Alberta, York University; former Writer in Residence at the University of Toronto


Eugene Benson     Author; University Professor Emeritus at the University of Guelph


Suzanne Boles     Writer; Past President, Professional Writers Association of Canada


Ron Brown     Author; Past Chair, The Writers’ Union of Canada


Mike Bryan     Vice-President, Canadian Publishers' Council


Trevor Cole    Author

Greg Cook     Author; former Professor at Acadia University and Saint Mary's University; former Writer in Residence at the University of Waterloo


Susan Crean     Author; Instructor at York University, University of Toronto, UBC and Ryerson University


Erin Creasey     Vice President, ECW Press; Council member, Association of Canadian Publishers


Alan Cumyn     Author; former Writer in Residence, University of Ottawa

John Degen     Author


William Deverell     Author; B.A., J.D. University of Saskatchewan; D. Lett (Hon) from Simon Fraser University; former Professor at the University of Victoria


Ann Douglas     Author; Past President, Professional Writers Association of Canada; former writing instructor, Trent University and Fleming College


Trevor Ferguson     Author; Instructor at Concordia University


Nancy Flight     Associate Publisher, Douglas & McIntyre; Secretary, Association of Canadian Publishers


Bill Freeman     Author; former Professor at McMaster University, Vanier College, York University, and Centennial College


Annie Gibson     Publisher, Playwrights Canada Press; Council member, Association of Canadian Publishers


Graeme Gibson     Author; former Instructor at Ryerson University


Wayne Grady     Author; Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia


Gordon Graham     Writer; Past President, Professional Writers Association of Canada


Karen Green     Chair, Literary Press Group of Canada


Barry Grills     Author; former or current Instructor at Confederation College, Canadore College, and College Boreal


Tanya Gulliver     Author; Past President, Professional Writers Association of Canada, Instructor, Ryerson University


Kevin Hanson     President, Canadian Publishers' Council


Greg Hollingshead     Author; Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta


Kirk Howard     President, Dundurn; Past President, Association of Canadian Publishers


Bill Harnum     Publisher, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies; Vice President and Past President, Association of Canadian Publishers

Penney Kome     Author


Myrna Kostash     Author; Writer in Residence at the University of Alberta; Professor at the University of Regina


Karen Krossing     President, CANSCAIP


Paul Ledoux     Advocacy Chair, PGC


Kathe Lieber     Writer; Past President, Professional Writers Association of Canada


Janet Lunn     Author

Amela Marin    Author

Susan McIntosh     Vice President, McGill-Queen’s University Press; Council member, Association of Canadian Publishers


Dr. Gerry McIntyre     Executive Director, Canadian Educational Resources Council


Susan McMaster     President, League of Canadian Poets


Christopher Moore     Author


Susan Musgrave     Author; current or former Instructor at the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, the University of Northern British Columbia, and the University of Waterloo


Erna Paris     Author


Anna Porter     Publisher and Author; Past President, Association of Canadian Publishers


Elyne Quan     President, Playwrights Guild of Canada


Susan Renouf     Past President, Association of Canadian Publishers


Jason Riley     Treasurer, Canadian Publishers' Council


Rebecca Rose     Publisher, Breakwater Books; Council member, Association of Canadian Publishers

Stuart Ross    Author, former Writer in Residence at Queen's University

Karen Rowe    Author, writing instructor

Andreas Schroeder     Author; Instructor and Rogers Communications Chair in Creative Nonfiction at the University of British Columbia


Maggie Siggins     Author; former Max Bell Chair on Journalism at the University of Regina; former Southam Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto


Craig Silverman     Writer; President, Professional Writers Association of Canada


Merilyn Simonds     Author; Chair of The Writers’ Union of Canada; Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia

Adam Sol    Poet; professor at Laurentian University

David Lewis Stein     Author; former Instructor at the University of Toronto

David Swail     Past President, Canadian Publishers’ Council


Susan Swan     Author; Tenured Professor at York University


Audrey Thomas     Author; former Instructor or Writer in Residence at Concordia University, the University of Ottawa, Simon Fraser University, the Universities of British Columbia, Toronto, and Victoria


Rodger Touchie     Publisher, Heritage House; Past President, Association of Canadian Publishers


Bob Tyrrell     President, Orca Book Publishers; Council member, Association of Canadian Publishers


Fred Wah     Parliamentary Poet Laureate; Author; Professor Emeritus at the University of Calgary


Rudy Wiebe     Author; former Professor at the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, Regent College, and the Vancouver Canadian Mennonite University


Alana Wilcox     Senior Editor, Coach House Press; Council member, Association of Canadian Publishers


Matt Williams     Vice President, House of Anansi/Groundwood; Council member, Association of Canadian Publishers


Dave Williamson     Author; former Dean of Business and Applied Arts at Red River College; past President of the Association of Canadian Schools of Business


Margie Wolfe     Publisher, Second Story Press; President, Association of Canadian Publishers

The organizational coalition partners are:

Association of Canadian Publishers

The Writers' Union of Canada

Canadian Publishers' Council

Professional Writers Association of Canada

Canadian Educational Resources Council

Literary Press Group of Canada

Playwrights Guild of Canada

Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers
 

League of Canadian Poets

Book Publishers Association of Alberta 

 
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UPDATE: I am happy to add names to the letter on this page. If you wish to be added, please send me your name, affiliation with Canadian writing and publishing, and any educational work credits. Thank you to Stuart Ross, poet, author, writer-in-residence for starting the additions. You can contact me on twitter @jkdegen.