STM, the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers, wrote a letter to Ministers Moore and Clement expressing their concerns with Bill C-32. The letter starts with the following introduction:
STM is making this submission to you, as STM and its members are seriously concerned about some of the provisions of Bill C-32 – the Copyright Modernization Act (“the Bill”). If enacted, these provisions would seriously prejudice STM publishing, Canadian publishers, authors and rightsholders generally. Moreover, these provisions, if enacted, would violate Canada’s international copyright obligations.
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As an author of two books and numerous monographs, as well as a small publisher with some 40 titles and counting, I am very concerned that our six or so best sellers, which sell internationally, continue to be protected by a copyright law that is respected and observed internationally by signatories to the Rome Convention and other copyright protections. It is not reasonable for Canada to pass a law which can have the effect or removing that protection and potentially reduce the income produced by our efforts. It will surely limit our investment in new projects. Who will risk capital to have it pirated? Francis Mitchell
What are the implications of this bill for the entertainment industry? If the creative works of writers are being given away by the government, then what about song lyrics, music, videos? What about an artist’s images? These are all intellectual property so perhaps all these media should be freely available for “educational purposes”. Perhaps those shooting films in Canada should be made aware that their scripts and films may not be protected. I’m sure Hollywood would have a field day with this. Come to think of it, what’s MGM’s address?