The Writers’ Union of Canada was formed to ensure that writers' voices are heard and their writing is protected. To this end, the Union is at the table with of government and industry to advance issues vital to writers and the literary culture of Canada, and to increase knowledge and awareness of the issues facing writers in Canada.

For more information on The Union's many activities and acheivements throughout our history please visit our PAST ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS, or see our UNION BRIEFS AND SUBMISSIONS, addressing the issues effecting Canadian writers to government and sector partners.

In 2011 The Writers' Union of Canada has been actively supporting the rights and the well-being of Canadian book writers on a variety of important issues.

2011

A Writers' Bill of Rights for the Digital Age
What do we, as book writers, want for ourselves in the digital age? Having asked this question of dozens of book authors and other writers, The Writers' Union of Canada presents the following twelve rights for Canadian authors. They are not written in stone. The publishing and digital landscapes are changing too quickly for that. Our goal is to encourage thought and discussion and to encourage action that respects writers' rights. Next year our statement may look different. For now the question is, what are our core demands and principles with respect to our rights in the digital age? Here is what we propose.
READ THE BILLL OF RIGHTS FOR WRITERS IN THE DIGITAL AGE
DOWNLOAD THE BILL OF RIGHTS AS A PDF
READ what others are saying: QUILL AND QUIRE, THE VANCOUVER SUN, KATE PULLINGER, THE WRITERS' GUILD OF ALBERTA

Bill C-11
Bill C-11, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act, was tabled in September 2011 and is identical to the former Bill C-32, which died on the order paper with the federal election called in the spring.

While we support modernizing the Copyright Act, Bill C-11 proposes to cut back on rights that are the underpinning of writers’ livelihoods. There are more than 30 new exceptions affecting rightsholders. Many of these new exceptions take away or reduce the ability writers currently have to control their work and to be compensated for it. Among the most troubling of these exceptions is the extension of “fair dealing” (which means uncompensated use) to “education.” If much more of the work of creators can be used for free in educational settings, the the income writers depend on from the educational market is at risk of being legislated away.

The Writers’ Union of Canada has been active – both alone and in partnership with arts colleagues in all disciplines – in raising writers’ concerns with legislators and in advocating for solutions.

TWUC at court
One of the arenas in which TWUC seeks to defend the rights of writers is the court of law. Recently we’ve been involved in three significant cases of great importance to freedom of information and copyright.

• In Crookes v Newton TWUC intervened in the successful battle in support of the position that a blogger should not be liable for defamation for providing a hyperlink to a website that contains defamatory material.
• TWUC joined the U.S. Authors Guild suit against the HathiTrust, a group of American universities headed by the University of Michigan that have pooled approximately seven million copyright books that they and Google have digitized without permission. They’re currently working to identify and release “orphaned” ones in their entirety for free viewing, downloading, and printing by students and faculty in university libraries in the U.S.
• TWUC Chair, Greg Hollingshead, is the affiant in an intervention in an appeal, by the provincial Ministers of Education (excluding Quebec) and Ontario’s school boards, of a Copyright Board decision on the amount of copying of copyright material in K-12 schools that must be paid for.

To read more about these cases please see TWUC AT COURT, an update from the Union Chair, Greg Hollingshead.

TWUC has joined the suit initiated by the Authors Guild against the HathiTrust
The HathiTrust is a group of U.S. American universities headed by the University of Michigan that have pooled approximately seven million copyright books that they and Google have digitized without permission. They are working on an initiative to identify and release "orphaned" ones in their entirety for free viewing, downloading, and printing by students and faculty in university libraries in the United States. READ MORE

2011 Pre budget
Because the cultural sector has long demonstrated a significant return on investment, strategic investments should be not only continued but, at the earliest opportunity, expanded. No-cost legislative measures - such as a copyright bill that assures creators their rightful revenue streams and a National Digital Economy Strategy that includes the arts - can play an important role in a sustained economic recovery.
Pre-Budget Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance 2012 (66.1 KB PDF)

FEDERAL ELECTION 2011
On May 2nd Canadian voters cast their ballots to determine which party would lead our Country in the coming years. A variety of issues facing Canadian writers were at stake in this election and the Writers’ Union encouraged our members involvement to make sure that our voices were heard.

Letters to the Party Leaders
Conservative - no response
Liberal - read the resonse to questions and cover letter received April 6, 2011
NDP - read the response to questions received April 26, 2011
Bloc Quebecois - read the response to questions and cover letter received April 27, 2011
Green - read the response to questions received April 18, 2011

PAST ACTIVITIES & ACHIEVEMENTS