Canadian Creators Send Joint Letter to Heritage Minister Joly
A growing list of approximately 1,100 musicians, authors, songwriters, composers, music producers, poets, playwrights, film composers, actors, directors and other members of the creative class have signed a joint letter addressed to the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage, urging the Canadian Government to put creators at the heart of our cultural policy.
The list of signatories includes Alanis Morissette, Gordon Lightfoot, Brett Kissel, Grimes, Blue Rodeo, Gord Downie, Metric, Marie Claire Blais, The Sheepdogs, Rudy Wiebe, Alexisonfire, Guy Gavriel Kay, Barney Bentall, Sharon Pollock, Bryan Adams, Daniel David Moses, Joel Plaskett, Mary Vingoe, Garth Richardson, Gary Barwin, Alice Major, Maureen Hynes and many more.
The letter includes the following passage:
"The carefully designed laws and regulations of the 1990s were intended to ensure that both Canadian creators and technological innovators would benefit from digital developments. We hoped that new technology would enrich the cultural experiences for artists and consumers alike. Unfortunately, this has not happened.
"Instead, our work is increasingly used to monetize technology without adequately remunerating its creators. Income and profit from digital use of our work flow away from the creative class to a concentrated technology industry. Allowing this trend to continue will result in dramatically fewer Canadians being able to afford to “tell Canadian stories,” much less earn a reasonable living from doing so."
Canadian creators – including independent musicians, composers, producers and songwriters – are encouraged to add their names to the letter on the website www.focusoncreators.ca to help send this important message to our elected representatives and federal policymakers in Ottawa.
Focus On Creators was formed to bring focus to Canadian artists’ perspectives in light of major federal cultural policy activities – including the ongoing Department of Canadian Heritage policy review, and the upcoming Copyright Act review in 2017. These activities represent a timely opportunity to re-establish a fair working environment for musicians and other Canadian creators.
Focus On Creators has widespread support from across Canada’s creative industries. The growing list of supporting partners includes:
- Music Canada
- The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA)
- The Canadian Country Music Association
- The Canadian Music Publishers Association
- Canadian Artists' Representation (CARFAC)
- The Writers’ Union of Canada
- The League of Canadian Poets
- The Playwrights Guild of Canada
For more information on Focus On Creators and the joint Artist Letter to Minister Mélanie Joly, click here.