Julianna Yau’s blog

Toronto, Ontario, June 26, 2008 – There is little visionary thinking behind Bill C-61 – An Act to Amend the Copyright Act of Canada in regards to the visual and media arts. The federal government will latch on to the fact that they have updated the rights of photographers so that they now align with other creators – CARFAC Ontario had actually suggested that this update be broadened to include printmakers and portrait artists.

“So much attention was paid to the needs of visual and media artists in the platform document that was collectively assembled by the Creators Copyright Coalition yet there is so little in this current bill that addresses those concerns,” said Julianna Yau, CARFAC Ontario Board Secretary.

As an example, jurisdictions like the State of California are embracing the resale right or “droit de suite” which gives visual and media artists a right to a percentage of the sale price that is paid to an artist when one of their works is resold by a gallery or other purchaser. North America has generally lagged behind the European Union which in 2001 issued a directive requiring member states to institute the “droit de suite” right in their copyright policies. In the United Kingdom alone the Designers and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) has collected £5.2 million (approximately $12million) in resale royalties for over 1500 artists since February 2006.

It is also disappointing that wording around the Exhibition Right was not strengthened to oblige publicly funded exhibitors to pay visual and media artists for all uses of their work. This is the sort of revision that will likely be allowable during the upcoming consultative

For more information about Bill C-61 visit:
http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/crp-prda.nsf/en/h_rp01153e.html

For more information about the Creators Copyright Coalition’s Platform on the Revision of Copyright visit:
http://www.creatorscopyright.ca/documents/platform-jan08.html

CARFAC Ontario is the association of professional visual and media artists in Ontario. We have worked for 40 years to promote the material and moral welfare and rights of visual artists, including legal, economic, and physical health. We believe that artists, like professionals in other fields, should be paid for their work and share equitably in profits from their art practice. The work of CARFAC Ontario is to develop policies, publications and services that assist artists, galleries, curators, art patrons and anyone with an interest in creating a society that supports visual and media
artists. Working, professional visual and media artists actively govern CARFAC Ontario. As artists, we understand the needs of artists and have developed services and programs to assist artists at every stage of their careers.

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Tags: art, artist fees, c-61, carfac, ccc, copyright, dacs, droit de suite, legislation