Photo by courtesy of the CDEC. Left to right, back row: Matthew Gray (Canadian Heritage), Christian Laforce (Copibec), April Britski (CARFAC), Camille Cazin (RAAV), Jérôme Payette (APEM), Carol Ann Pilon (APFC), Andrea Kokonis (SOCAN), Dominic Morin (Canadian Heritage). Front row: Lisa Freeman (CPCC), Margaret McGuffin (MPC), Kate Edwards (Access Copyright).

SOCAN advocates for members in Ottawa during September of 2024

Story by Howard Druckman, with files from Fraser Turnbull | October 8, 2024

The Coalition for Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE) hosted a cocktail reception on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sept. 18, 2024, as part of its “Copyright Reform is Now” campaign. The event, funded in part by SOCAN,  gathered representatives from various spheres of the cultural sector (involved in music, books, film, TV, acting, etc.) who reminded the attending senators and Members of Parliament of their necessities, and the importance of their work.

Earlier the same day, the CDCE, including SOCAN, met with the Department of Canadian Heritage to focus on the CDCE’s four key copyright requests:

  • creating a re-sale right for visual artists;
  • fair compensation for writers and book publishers for use of their works in education;
  • technological neutrality for private copying, to restore royalties for recording artists, composers, songwriters, music publishers, and labels; and
  • modification of the definition of sound recording, so that performers and labels are compensated for the use of their work in screen productions.

To add your voice to the CDCE’s advocacy on behalf of music creators, click here.

The next day, Sept. 19, also in Ottawa, the Canadian branch of the Association littéraire et artistique internationale (ALAI Canada) held a symposium to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the Copyright Act coming into force in Canada. Prominent copyright lawyers, experts, and scholars presented comments on a wide range of topics, and speakers included SOCAN Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel Andrea Kokonis. She explained how SOCAN addressed the then-new technology of online audio streaming, and how the lessons learned from that process will shape how we tackle the questions raised by generative AI.

On Oct. 4, 2024, SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown spoke at an International Music Publishers Forum (IMPF) panel at the organization’s Global Music Summit in Palma, Spain. Brown participated in a panel, Mergers and Acquisitions, that examined which technologies and services are being bought by music companies,  and how that will affect the landscape, and the market.