Toronto (ON) – A total of 19 arts organizations have come together in support of the campaign to ensure that Canadian songwriters, recording artists, publishers and record labels continue to receive compensation when private copies are made of their music.

Both French and English organizations, including ACTRA, SOCAN and Union des Artistes, have signed a joint letter to Industry Minister Tony Clement and Heritage Minister James Moore, the two ministers responsible for Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act. In the letter, the organizations denounce the proposed legislation’s failure to provide a mechanism to compensate creators when their music is copied onto MP3 players like iPods.

The organizations support the efforts of the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) to have the new legislation amended to provide compensation to rights holders for copies of their music made on to MP3 players.

“We agree with the CPCC that the exclusion of compensation to creators for the copying of sound recordings onto these devices as proposed in Bill C-32 is unjustifiable,” the letter says.  “Given the reality of technology and usage in the modern world, a Copyright Act that effectively says that our creative work is valueless in this process is unacceptable.”

Read the full letter and list of signatories.

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Further information:
Alison Thompson CPCC
416-486-6832 ext 221
[email protected]
www.savethelevy.ca