Rock ‘n’ roll legend Bryan Adams has called for changes in Canadian copyright laws.
The Canadian singer-songwriter was one of two witnesses to speak at the 118th meeting about Remuneration Models for Artists and Creative Industries, chaired by Julie Dabrusin in the House of Commons earlier this week.
“I’m not really here standing today for myself, as much as I am standing for the young artists of Canada that are coming forward,” he told the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage (CHPC) in Ottawa, Billboard reports.
“I’ve been trying for the past 10 years to get a moment [like this] to be able to tell you about this and it’s quite a simple proposal,” Adams said of his proposed amendment of the Copyright Act S.14 (1).
“The current copyright law, authors and composers who transferred or assigned their copyrights by contract must wait 25 years after death to get them back,” Adams said, giving a emphasis on the word “death.”
“So if you write a script or you write a book, if you write a song and you assign your copyright to a company, you have to wait 25 years after you die to get it back. I could say it again, but I think twice is enough.”
“In comparison, the current USA copyright law was changed in January 1978 and the U.S. Government decided that copyright should revert back to the author and composer upon request 35 years after assignment — so after you’ve given it to a company, or you’ve made a deal for your book or your song, 35 years later it returns to you and you can decide if you want to continue with that company or keep it for yourself,” he continued.
“So my proposal is we change one word in the copyright section 14.1 — which is from 25 years after death to 25 years after assignment. It’s one word. That’s all we need to do,” he proposed.
by RTTNews Staff Writer
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