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ALAI CANADA News
July 2006 Telephone: (514) 993-1556
ALAI CANADA Fax: (514) 525-1543
C.P. 83641, succursale Garnier, Montréal (Qc) H2J 4E9 E-mail:
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outgoing president’s speech
at the alai annual general meeting
As usual, I will begin by thanking the members who have come to attend ALAI Canada’s annual general meeting.
My review of the last year will begin with ALAI Canada’s most important event, which was our annual colloquium. It took pace on October 18, 2005, with the theme “Copyright on Display: Copyright Issues in the Marketing of Films and Works of Art.” More than 80 people attended the colloquium, at which 10 speakers, 2 of them from other countries, spoke on a wide variety of subjects. The participants highly appreciated the colloquium, which is a good example of how ALAI Canada makes an original contribution to copyright by making available information and points of view on specialized and unusual copyright subjects.
I would like to emphasize the extraordinary work done by members of this conference’s organizing committee, especially lawyers Benoît Clermont of Productions J inc. and Stéphanie Duquette of SOPROQ, both of whom devoted much energy to making the colloquium a great success. I would also like to thank the other members of the conference committee: Prof. Ysolde Gendreau of the Université de Montréal, Laurent Carrière of the law firm Léger, Robic, Richard, and Julie Lachance, lawyer at the Union des artistes.
With regard to dinners with speakers, I’ll start with activities in Montreal. On May 17, 2005, Dan Wolfensohn, of the law firm Heenan, Blaikie, gave a talk on copyright protection of sounds. On September 14, 2005, ALAI Canada and AJAVA held a half-day joint mini-conference on copyright reform in Canada. I would like to thank all of the panellists who participated in this debate: Albert Cloutier, lawyer at Industry Canada and Danielle Bouvet, lawyer at the Department of Canadian Heritage, who discussed the approach chosen by the Canadian government, and Gilles Daigles of the law firm Gowling, Lafleur, Henderson; Hélène Messier, lawyer at Copibec; and Martin Lavallée, laywer at SODRAC, who came to talk about their concerns with regard to the bill. On December 6, 2006, we witnessed a true oral joust between Gilles Daigles, of Gowling, Lafleur, Henderson, and Aidan O’Neill, of the law firm Johnson, Buchan, on the recent decision by the Copyright Board with regard to the SOCAN/SGDV consolidated rate for commercial radio. On January 18, 2006, Prof. René Pépin of the Université de Sherbrooke braved the sleet to come and talk to us about copyright protection of conversations and interviews. The year finished with a review of copyright jurisprudence in 2005 by none other than Stefan Martin of the law firm Fraser, Milner, Casgrain.
One activity took place in Quebec City: on May 5, 2005, Nicolas Sapp, of the law firm Ogilvy Renault, and Prof. Georges Azzaria, of Université Laval, debated the question “Technology vs. Authors: Law and Jurisprudence as Battlefield.”
And now to Toronto, where two activities were organized in quick succession on Bill C-60, which was tabled for first reading in the House of Commons. First, on July 7, 2005, Albert Cloutier and Bruce Couchman, lawyers at Industry Canada, presented their perspective on reform of the Copyright Act. They were followed, on August 25, 2005, by Bruce Stockfish and Danielle Bouvet, lawyers at the Department of Canadian Heritage, who presented their perspective. On September 30, 2006, Ian Ballon, of the American law firm Monatt, Phelps, Philipps, came to talk about the ruling of the United States Supreme Court in MGM v. Grokster, a good victory in the fight against counterfeiting on the Internet by p2p networks.
ALAI held its international congress in September 2005 in Paris, with the theme “Foundations of Copyright.” More than 350 participants attended the debates over interaction between copyright and competition law.
As you know, a bill reforming the Copyright Act was tabled this past year. The members of ALAI Canada had an opportunity to air their concerns during the mini-colloquia and talks that were given on the subject. This bill died on the order paper before these concerns could be expressed. However, you can be sure that ALAI Canada will have a presence when the process of reforming Canadian copyright law is reactivated.
I would like to express my gratitude to all members of the board of directors who devoted time and energy to make our association work. First, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Stéphanie Duquette, lawyer at SOPROQ, who has sat on ALAI Canada’s board of directors for many years and has been very dedicated during this time, including recently as president of the conference committee. My warm thanks also go to Benoît Clermont, lawyer at Productions J. inc., who has been treasurer and member of the conference committee as well as member of the board of directors, and who is leaving the board after a number of years, and to France Lafleur, lawyer at SOCAN, who is also leaving our board after many years due to the election of a new president. I would also like to thank the other members of the board of directors who are continuing with their mandate: Michel Beauchemin of AQAD, Laurent Carrière of the law firm Léger, Robic, Richard, Prof. Ysolde Gendreau of the Université de Montréal, and Prof. Daniel Gervais of the University of Ottawa. I must also express my gratitude to J. Nelson Landry of Ogilvy, Renault, who has tirelessly acted as special advisor to the board of directors. We are all in his debt.
Finally, I would like to express my great thanks to Suzanne Lecompte, who has energetically provided ALAI Canada’s secretarial services for many years with great dedication. She is passing the torch this year to Micheline Gingras, and I thank her from the bottom of my heart, on your behalf, for all of her efforts.
As you all know, this ends my mandate as president of ALAI Canada. It has given me great pleasure to lead the association over these three years with the support of a wonderful team of administrators and other volunteers for whom development of copyright is a priority. I would like to emphasize how important the existence of an association such as ALAI Canada is to the development of copyright in a context that permits dialogue and debate. This makes our association a place where the flame of copyright is still burning bright.
NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS
A new board of directors was elected at the annual general meeting. It is composed of:
Michel Beauchemin (administrator)
Nathalie Blais, lawyer (treasurer)
Laurent Carrière, lawyer (administrator)
Jean-Arpad Français, lawyer (secretary)
Ysolde Gendreau, lawyer (chairwoman)
Daniel Gervais, lawyer (administrator)
Sophie Gravel, lawyer (administrator)
Julie Lachance (administrator)
J. Nelson Landry, lawyer (special advisor)
Jean-Philippe Mikus, lawyer (outgoing chairman)
Andrea Rush, lawyer (vice-chairwoman)
NEW MEMBERS
ALAI Canada welcomes the following people as new members:
- Pamela Brand, Directors Guild of Canada
- Monique Lafontaine, Directors Guild of Canada
- Maxime Bédard, Groupe TVA
- George Kintzos, Fraser Milner Casgrain
- Marie-Josée Lapointe, BCF s.e.n.c.r.l.
- Margot Patterson, Canadian association of Broadcasters
- Pierre-Emmanuel Moyse
- David Basskin, CMRRA
- Albert Cloutier, Industry Canada
- Frédérique Couette, Copibec
- Jonathan Cullen, Ogilvy Renault
- Catherine Daigle, LEGER ROBIC RICHARD, L.L.P.
- Louis Gratton, Ogilvy Renault
- Perla Manoukian, Thomson Computer Mark
- Julie Patry, APFTQ
PROCEEDINGS
Copies of the proceedings of a number of colloquia and congresses are still available. The list of documents is published on the ALAI Canada Web site and may be consulted at www.alai.ca/pubPub.php.
CONTINUING EDUCATION
For the third consecutive year, ALAI is offering creators’ associations the opportunity to benefit from continuing education that is free of charge and tailored to the respective association’s specific needs with regard to copyright. For more information on the services that are offered and how to apply for grants, please contact us at .
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Droit d’auteur et liberté d’expression, Larcier. For more information or to order: www.larcier.com
Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights (ISBN 904112358 X), Kluwer Law International. To see the table of contents and index: www.collectivemanagement.net
Intellectual Property: Bridging Aesthetics and Economics, Montreal, Thémis. For more information or to order: http://www.themis.umontreal.ca/
TELL US YOUR NEWS
ALAI invites all members to tell us their news or make suggestions for new activities. You can send your news to: .
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sophie Gravel