A coalition of groups representing more than 50,000 Canadian writers, visual artists, and publishers is calling on the new federal heritage minister to take action and amend the country’s Copyright Act.

Pascale St-Onge was named the minister of Canadian Heritage on July 26, and takes over from Pablo Rodriguez, who had served as the minister from 2021. The change was part of a larger cabinet shuffle.

In a press release sent on August 3 on behalf of more than 20 organizations, including Access Copyright, the Association of Canadian Publishers, and the Writers’ Union of Canada, the organizations urge the new minister to amend the Copyright Act to ensure that educational copying is licensed.

“As Minister St-Onge takes the reins from Minister Rodriguez, tackling meaningful copyright reform must be at the top of her list of priorities,” Danny Ramadan, chair of The Writers’ Union of Canada, said in the release. “The government needs to act urgently to end the mass, systemic, free copying of creators’ works by educational institutions outside of Quebec.”

The groups have been petitioning for amendments to the Act for a decade, since an undefined education category was added to the Act under fair dealing. In the 2022 budget, the government promised to extend copyright protection from 50 to 70 years after the death of an author, and it also noted the government’s commitment to “to ensuring that the Copyright Act protects all creators and copyright holders.”

Extended copyright protection came into effect in January 2023, but the long hoped-for changes to address educational copying have not yet been made.

On July 13, 2023, Access Copyright announced that due to ongoing revenue losses the organization’s board has begun considering how to downsize and restructure the collective, a change that will have far-reaching consequences.

In the latest salvo, the coalition noted that Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne “holds the pen” on any changes to the Copyright Act.