Copyright Consultations

The government of Canada is currently conducting consultations prior to amending Canadian Copyright Law. We are all being asked to have our say. Here is mine, which has been sent to the Copyright Consultation as website at: http://is.gd/29Bqk

as well as to my MP and my local paper as a “Letter to the editor.”

Firstly, let me thank you for the opportunity to tell my story and give my input concerning Canadian copyright reform.

I have been a MB-based freelance writer since 1993, writing many stories for primarily magazines, as well as a few newspapers and websites.

I have also co-authored two Canadian travel/lifestyle books and am currently working on a non-fiction tradebook book for a Canadian publisher, after which I will research and write another non-fiction travel book (idea in place, have not yet got to book proposal stage.) My writing life has been a satisfying, but challenging one.

I have made a very significant portion of my income over the past 15 years by reselling my previously published work. I have been able to do that because most of the clients I have written for have allowed me to retain copyright to my work and resell or repurpose it if I chose to do so. That, unfortunately, has changed over the past year or two as nearly all publications now post their content online. Even if I have retained the copyright to my work, the fact that it is already online for all the world to see significantly diminishes the possibility of reselling that work.

In addition, an increasing number of publications are demanding all contributors sign an “all rights” contract, effectively giving the publisher all rights to the material and prohibiting the creator from reselling that work. Some contracts go so far as to say that the contributor can never sell another piece on the same subject to anyone! That certainly reduces the freelance writer’s ability to make a living from his or her craft. But it gets worse.

There has been a movement from some Canadian creators of intellectual property to open up the market and just give away their content for free! They feel that everything on the Internet should be available free for all. Some of these creators have high-paying jobs as educators and in other professions. They are not interested in, nor do they need, the meagre additional income they might receive from the freelance articles they write. They are in a class of their own.

The story gets even worse. The suggestion that the government give an “Educator’s Exemption” to copyrighted material is unfair to the freelance writer who is trying desperately to keep afloat in today’s trying economy. Educational institutions have budgets. They pay plumbers who fix their toilets. They pay roofers who install their shingles. They should pay the writers who create the content they distribute to their students. There can be no other logic.

Most full-time freelance writers in Canada earn less than $26,000 per year. This figure is supported by the research done by the Professional Writers Association of Canada in its recent survey. That puts many of us just above the poverty line.

We cannot afford to give our work away. We need to be paid for each and every use of our copyrighted work so that we can put food on our tables.

We are valuable contributors to Canadian culture and to the Canadian economy.

Please help us survive, and continue to make our contributions by ensuring that Canadian copyright reform is fair to freelance creators.

Most sincerely

Doreen Pendgracs