Copyright 101 Webinar

On the occasion of World Book and Copyright Day 2023, this webinar will give an overview of the copyright landscape in Canada - addressing the history, reform, and proposed changes surrounding the Copyright Act, and its impact on Canadian publishers.

Our speakers will address the situation and challenges faced by publishers in Quebec, in Canada, and internationally, followed by a Q&A session.

Roanie Levy of Access Copyright

Gilles Herman from Septentrion

José Borghino, Secretary General at the International Publishers Association

Glenn Rollans, Publisher and owner of Brush Education and Chair of the Canadian Copyright Institute, will moderate the panel.

About the Speakers:

Roanie Levy

Roanie Levy is an internationally recognized champion of creator rights. Strategic and forward-thinking, she bridges the worlds of intellectual property law, content rights management and exponential technologies to represent and advocate for creators and rightsholders. Roanie serves as CEO and President of Access Copyright, a collective that distributes millions of dollars annually in licensing royalties to creator and publisher affiliates. She also leads Prescient, Access Copyright's creator-focused innovation lab dedicated to exploring the future of rights management and content monetization through Blockchain and other technologies. Prior to joining Access Copyright, she held key positions on major policy files at Canadian heritage and Industry Canada, and as a private sector management consultant for Fortune 500 companies. An Intellectual Property lawyer by vocation, Roanie has been called to the bar in Ontario and was formerly a member of the Quebec bar. She is fluently bilingual.

Gilles Herman

Les éditions du Septentrion hired Gilles Herman to computerize their operations in 1998, giving him an introduction to the world of books through a technological lens. From the warehouse to project management, as well as page layout and production, he tackled almost all tasks related to publishing. In 2005, he became the majority owner of the publishing house. In 2009, he co-founded Baraka Books, an English-language publisher based in Montreal. For more than 15 years, he has been a member of various committees of the Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL), including the copyright committee, and as a director of Copibec, the Quebec Society for the Collective Management of Reproduction Rights.

José Borghino

José Borghino has been Secretary General of the International Publishers Association, Geneva, since 2015. He joined the IPA as Policy Director in 2013, and was in charge of policy development, organizing the Prix Voltaire (IPA’s Freedom to Publish Prize), and managing the IPA’s activities in the educational publishing sector, including the annual ‘What Works?’ conference and the Educational Publishers Forum. Before joining the IPA, José was ‘Manager, Industry Representation’ at the Australian Publishers Association. He has been Executive Director of the Australian Society of Authors, a lecturer in literary journalism and creative industries at the University of Sydney, and editor of the online news magazine NewMatilda.com. José held senior positions at the Literature Board of the Australia Council and was the founding editor of EDITIONSReview.

About the moderator

Glenn Rollans is Publisher and owner of Brush Education (a higher-education publisher based in Edmonton) and owner of Freehand Books (a literary publisher based in Calgary). His experience includes serving as the Director of the University of Alberta Press, co-owner of Les Éditions Duval / Duval House Publishing (a K-12 publisher based in Edmonton), Co-director of the Business of Publishing program (University of Chicago), Director of the Banff Publishing Program (Banff Centre), Co-chair of Access Copyright, President of the Book Publishers Association of Alberta and President of the Association of Canadian Publishers. He serves as the representative of the Canadian Copyright Institute to the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights of the WIPO, and on the Copyright Committee and the Copyright Policy Working Group of the International Publishers Association.

About the organizers

The Association of English-language Publishers of Quebec (Association des éditeurs de langue anglaise du Québec) is a not-for-profit organization that advances the publication, distribution, and promotion of English-language books from Quebec. We support our member publishers through professional development seminars, advocacy, and marketing initiatives.

The Association of Canadian Publishers is the voice of Canadian independent book publishers. Our diverse membership consists of approximately 115 Canadian-owned and controlled book publishers from across the country, and range both in company size and editorial mandate. ACP contributes to the development and maintenance of vibrant, competitive book publishing companies, professionally managed, and owned and controlled in Canada, in order to support and strengthen the contribution that Canadian books make to Canada’s cultural, economic, and educational landscape.

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The Canadian Copyright Institute (CCI) is an association of creators, producers, publishers and distributors of copyright works. Since 1965, the Institute has sought to encourage a better understanding of the law of copyright and to engage in and foster research and dialogue on the promotion of works of the mind.