The long-awaited copyright reform bill introduced yesterday is welcomed by Canada’s independently owned book publishers. While some elements of the bill raise concerns for publishers, its tabling represents a major step forward in the essential process of informed national discourse. “Copyright reform is long overdue,” said Rodger Touchie, president and publisher of Victoria-based Heritage House and current president of the Association of Canadian Publishers. “We are eager to see the process advance, through public debate and the work of the special parliamentary committee. We look to all political parties to work together to move the process forward.”
Publishers will need time to study specific implications of the bill, and particularly to consider new terms that were not part of the previous bill (C-61). The timing is fortuitous: publishers from across the country will be gathering next week in Halifax for the annual general meeting of the Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP). The copyright bill will top the agenda.