“The word on the street is that a long-awaited copyright bill will soon be tabled, and this is indeed good news,” says Wayne Grady, Chair of The Writers’ Union of Canada. Grady adds that “The Writers' Union is hoping for amendments to the bill that will help writers and other creators control the ways their work is exploited in the emerging Internet markets."

Other members of the Union had this to say:

Bill Freeman, Chair of the Union’s Electronic Rights and Copyright Committee will be scrutinizing the language of any tabled bill, “The government promises that the new legislation will bring Canadian copyright law into the Internet age, but what will be in the legislation? Writers will be greatly affected by it, both as creators and users of copyright material."

Erna Paris, Vice Chair of The Writers’ Union of Canada commented, “Writers have waited a long time for this revised legislation, and in the world of electronic rights, in particular, much has changed. We hope and expect that amendments to the copyright bill will respect the rights of authors in this altered environment.”

The Writers' Union of Canada is our country's national organization representing professional authors of books. Founded in 1973, the Union is dedicated to fostering writing in Canada, and promoting the rights, freedoms, and economic well being of all writers. For more information, please visit www.writersunion.ca

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For additional information
Deborah Windsor, Executive Director
The Writers’ Union of Canada
416. 703.8982 Ext. 221
dwindsor@writersunion.ca