Canadian “fair dealing” raised at WIPO meeting

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Canadian content creators and publishers are feeling the negative impact of the education sector’s interpretation of “fair dealing,” attendees of a World Intellectual Property Organization copyright standing committee meeting were told in early December in Geneva, Switzerland.

At a side-event, called “The Business of Being an Author,” John Degen, executive director of the Writers’ Union of Canada and Bill Harnum, treasurer of the Canadian Copyright Institute, highlighted how “fair dealing” guidelines adopted by many in the education sector have affected Canada’s creator and publishing communities. Degen and Harnum outlined many of the conclusions in a report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which was engaged by Access Copyright to measure the impact of these new interpretations of “fair dealing.”

Since the implementation of these guidelines, all public elementary and secondary schools outside Quebec and numerous post-secondary educational institutions have ceased paying royalties for the copying of published works.

Learn More: PwC’s findings are contained in the June 2015 report Economic Impacts of the Canadian Educational Sector’s Fair Dealing Guidelines. More information is also available on our website.