CRA-ADC

Alliance Activities

in cra-briefings29 · September 15, 2005

CRA-ADC ASKS UNESCO TO RESTORE CREATORS’ RIGHTS PROVISIONS

On July 14th 2005, the co-president and secretary general of the Alliance, Michel Beauchemin, wrote Madame Katérina Stenou to ask her to make every effort to re-insert the provisions of the preliminary draft convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions in the final text of the convention. These provisions recognize the role of individual artists in the development of cultural goods and services, and affirm the necessity of guaranteeing their intellectual property rights.

The text of the letter addressed to Mme Stenou follows along with her response. A comparison of the provisions relating to creators’ rights in the two drafts of the convention can be found in Briefings #28.

Madame Katérina Stenou
Directrice
Cultural Policy Division and Intercultural Dialogue
UNESCO

July 14th, 2005

Dear Mme Director,

As with other organizations concerned about the promotion and protection of cultural diversity at the international level, the Creators’ Rights Alliance / Alliance pour les droits des créateurs of Canada (CRA / ADC) was very pleased to see the adoption of the draft Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions by the third meeting of experts. If this convention is adopted by the 33rd General Conference of UNESCO next October, it will constitute a major advance for the right of States to set cultural policies that will promote cultural diversity within their own jurisdictions.

Contrary to what we had expected, the same cannot be said for the rights of artists in general and creators in particular. The preliminary draft Convention for the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions, released in July 2004, recognized the essential role individual artists play in the development of cultural goods and service, and consequently it affirmed the necessity of guaranteeing creators adequate intellectual property rights. It also stipulated that the States who will eventually ratify the convention must ensure that all individuals have the possibility of creating, producing, and disseminating their expressions in their own countries, and obliged States to ensure that the legal status of artists and creators is fully recognized.

These provisions, already diluted in the consolidated text of the President and the intergovernmental meeting, have been removed from the draft Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. They have either been reformulated in very general and often ambiguous terms, or dropped in their entirety.

Creators thus risk losing the chance, which will not come again, to reinforce their status in an international convention that will be based on international law and equal to other international statues, and which, moreover, will create obligations for signatory States. This at a time when in many countries the rights of artists are being set aside, as in Singapore where the law prohibits artists from organizing collectively to defend their interests. This at a time when, in Canada for example, creators are seeing their rights being increasingly disparaged in favour of users to whom ever more expansive rights are being granted, and seeing this trend continuously extended by decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada as well as by reforms to the Copyright Act. And this in a context where it is becoming more and more evident that the laws on the status of the artist, as much in Canada as Quebec, are not yet adequately protecting artists, especially in the fields of the theatre, visual arts and crafts, and literature.

We are aware that it is very difficult to institute modifications at this stage to the text of the draft convention adopted last June. Nevertheless, we can only ask you to make every effort to re-insert the provisions contained in last July’s the preliminary draft of the Convention in the text that will be submitted to the 33rd General Conference. The higher interests of creators are at issue here, and are, it must be remembered, the source of all cultural goods and services. Moreover, their rights are currently very poorly protected by the Recommendation on the Status of the Artist adopted in October 1980, a recommendation which is not binding on the member states of UNESCO.

Thanking you in advance for your attention and hoping to have the chance to discuss these questions with you again, I remain

Yours sincerely,

Michel Beauchemin
Co-president and Secretary General,

c.c. Madame Lisa Frulla, minister of Canadian Heritage
Madame Line Beauchamp, ministre de la Culture et des Communications du Québec

And Mme Stenou’s response:

Mr Michel Beauchemin,
Co-chair and Secretary General
CRA / ADC

27 July 2005

Dear Mr. Beauchemin,

Thank you for your letter of July 14th concerning the recognition of the status of artists and creators in the draft Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions.

Of the draft convention being elaborated, it can be said that the presence of artists and creators is not limited to those paragraphs where they are expressly mentioned, but that they inform the entire text, as they are the inexhaustible source of renewal for cultural diversity.

I will, nevertheless, forward your letter to Madame Françoise Sauvage, president of the liaison committee NGO-UNESCO.

My thanks for your engagement on these issues, and your support for the promotion of cultural diversity.

Yours sincerely,

Katérina Stenou
Director
Cultural Policy and
Interculturel Dialogue Division
UNESCO