PWAC National Office update on Bill C-11 ...

Bulletin # 3.7 Copyright Modernization Bill pushed through committee
The members of the Legislative Committee studying Bill C-11 began the clause by clause study of the legislation on Monday, March 12th and had completed their work by 11 a.m. on Tuesday, March 13th. The Conservative majority on the committee rejected all 17 amendments put forward by the NDP members and 15 by the Liberals. They passed 8 amendments of their own.The legislation now returns to the House of Commons for Third Reading and then will go to the Senate.
The Government was true to its word in only making a small number of technical amendments. All amendments presented by the opposition were defeated. No amendments whatsoever were made to any of the education or library exceptions. The government relations professionals with whom we worked through the process said they had never seen such haste taken over such a complex bill.
Two technical amendments improve the Bill in favour of rightholders. First the "enablement" provision designed to go after the bit-torrent type websites was tightened to make it easier for rightsholders to rely on this provision to shut-down sites that primarily exist for the purpose of enabling acts of copyright infringement. Second the private purpose exception was clarified to ensure that the private purpose in question must be that of the individual that owns the original copy.
Both the NDP and the Liberal Party had plans to introduce an amendment to the fair dealing provision that would see the 6 CCH factors enshrined in the legislation. Given our discomfort with the CCH factors and our hope that the Supreme Court of Canada will improve upon these factors in the K-12 case, enshrining the CCH decision would be worse than doing nothing at all. The Book industry pulled its efforts together and combined them with those of the broader creative community to convince first the Liberal Party and then the NDP to not present such an amendment. While this was a small victory, it is a victory none the less. Had one of he opposition parties presented such an amendment, rumour has it that the Government may have voted in favour of the amendment making fair dealing for education more difficult for us to work on improving it through the court process.
The C-11 Legislative Committee is expected to report to the House of Commons by March 29th at the latest (likely earlier). The Bill will then be referred to the Senate Committee on Transport and Communications. It is worth noting that the Conservatives have a majority in the Senate as well and this will make it very difficult to make any changes to the Bill in the Senate.
While the outcome is not as we had hoped,the "book" industry alliance (including PWAC, TWUC, CANSCAIP and both english and french publishers organizations) has done at tremendous job and has worked collaboratively in an unprecedented way. There is little, if anything, that we have not done in order to convince the Government that changes were needed to Bill C-11.
We want to thank all of you who responded through letters to your MPs, signatures on the PWAC Toronto petition, tweeting and re-tweeting our messages and even studying the issues and going to Ottawa for PWAC. Special thanks to Bruce Wilson and Michelle Greysen from our board and Jaclyn Law, Jane Langille and Karen Luttrell for their extra effort.

guest BLOG by PWAC B.C. member, Lyn Hancock ...

COMING SOON TO CALGARY, EDMONTON, BANFF AND AIRDRIE

APRIL 19-28

LYN HANCOCK

and her 20th book

THE RING:MEMORIES OF A METIS GRANDMOTHER

the story of Sam and Jane Livingston, Calgary's first settlers

Hi, fellow PWACers,

I'm on my way to your side of the mountains to present the culmination of a multi-decade history project on a family that I call the Forsyte Saga of Canada. A story that I feel merits some screenwriter to make into a documentary or feature film and where better to begin than in the Prairies or the North?

Can I tempt you with home-made bannock and buffalo jerky, Metis music, arts and crafts, photo displays and archival documents, slides, readings and lively conversation at one of my presentations in Calgary, Edmonton, Banff or Airdrie (schedule below) to hear about it? Of course, you can always buy the book or ask your library for it. And if you visit my blog The Perils of Self Publishing at www.lynhancock.com you'll find that the story of how it came to be is as tumultuous as the history of its hero and heroine. Actually, you could write a novel on how my website came to be and perhaps that tears-and-laughter drama could enfold over wine, coffee or a beer? And perhaps the ongoing saga of The Perils of Self Promotion to be written in a future blog.

Sam Livingston was a flamboyant Irish immigrant, a gold prospector (Forty-niner), buffalo hunter, fur trader and pioneer farmer who walked and rode across the American prairie from Livingston, Wisconsin (named after the family) to the California gold rush, up to the Rockies to the Northwest Territories, Fort Edmonton and finally made his home in what was to be Fort Calgary. Meanwhile, Jane Howse, a Metis girl from the Red River Colony and the granddaughter of Joseph Howse, the first HBC factor to cross the Rockies (Howse Pass) and build the first fur trading post, rode a Red River cart across the Canadian prairie to meet and marry Sam in Fort Victoria.

They had 14 children and their 13th child, unlucky Sam Livingston 11, died at 25, forcing his widow to give up their son, Sam Livingston 111, for adoption. His name was changed to Sam Letourneau. Lost for 64 years and never learning his true identity, he discovered his roots serendipitously in 1986 by reading a review in the Alberta Report onTell me, Grandmother, my precursor to The Ring. The magic of books. Read the website blog.

You'll find the Livingston name on many Calgary landmarks, a school, a fish hatchery, a federal building, two skyscrapers, a nature trail, the Big House in Heritage Park, a sculpture of his head at the airport - and even a beer. The Howse name is remembered in a river, a mountain and a mountain pass. Yet Tell me, Grandmother and The Ring are the only books written on this should-be-famous family. I don't want to write a screenplay but would you?

So it would be a privilege to see some of you in Calgary, Edmonton, Banff or Airdrie at a presentation or a private place. Anyone want to help with serving bannock and buffalo? If not, you can check out the book at Audrey's in Edmonton, or the Glenbow Museum, Fort Calgary, Heritage Park, Owl's Nest Books, Page's, or Monkeyshines in Calgary.

Yes, I am trying to bridge the generation gap. The book begins with the picture of one of Sam and Jane's great grandchildren playing with an orphan gibbon ape who spent a year with them in my grade six classroom in Victoria, BC. And that's how an animal book (for which I am mostly known..An Ape Came out of my Hatbox and Gypsy in the Classroom) led to a history book The Ring: Memories of a Metis Grandmother.

There's something for everybody as you can see in the schedule below. The one private presentation is on Sunday April 22 at the Beverley Centre long term care facility in Midnapore.

And now a picture is worth a thousand words, they say. Such are my lack of skills at the computer that you may find them inserted below or above on the attachment line. But don't forget to look at the schedule. Thanks for listening. And thanks if you can spread the word to media and your significant others!


For the complete schedule of Lyn's tour visit ...
 http://lynhancock.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/image0011.jpg

NEWS around the REGION ...

PWAC-Calgary Chapter Meeting Announcement
PWAC-Calgary chapter will be holding its next meeting on:
Date: Friday, March 9, 2012
Time: 7 - 9 p.m.
Place: Dudley's Lounge in the Carriage House Inn (9030 Macleod Trail South)
Guest: Michelle Greysen, PWAC Regional Director, Prairies and the North
Cost: Free; pizza provided; members to purchase their own beverages, if desired
RSVP: Andrea at pwaccalgary@gmail.com  on or before Thursday, March 8

The Alberta Magazine Publishers Association (AMPA) will be holding their annual conference on March 22-24, 2012, at the Carriage House Inn in Calgary  ( www.albertamagazines.com ) . The conference offers several sessions of interest to freelance writers. (In fact, PWAC's president, Craig Silverman, will be giving a presentation.) Please check out AMPA's website to view the complete brochure. Congratulations to Calgary Chapter member and past president Heather Cook for winning her Chapter draw for a complimentary session at the conference.

VISIT the new fbook page and tag your writing friends in the southern Alberta area with info on the soon open newly forming LETHBRIDGE & AREA CHAPTER – now that IS exciting!

 http://www.facebook.com/pages/PWAC-Lethbridge-Area-Alberta-Chapter/333509543354065

Congratulations to the new President of the Saskatchewan Chapter, Bonnie Zink! Joining her on the executive for the coming year will be Past President Kelly-Anne Riess, Vice President, Marie Powell Mendenhall, and Member-at-Large Darrell Noakes.  Bonnie  notes “...Joining a committee or becoming a member of our executive is a great way to build skills, connect with our members and get to know PWAC from the inside out ...” and welcomes any Saskatchewan chapter members to contact her for details on how they can get involved.

Manitoba member Irene Gordon has just launched her most recent book, People of the Fur Trade. Her reading event scheduled for Mar 2 has rescheduled due to bad weather and it will now happen as follows: 
(thanks for the update Irene)  ... "I am giving a reading/talk on my books at the Selkirk Library on Friday March 30 between 1 and 3 p.m. The library is in Selkirk, Manitoba, on the corner of Main Street and Ross Avenue. "The group is informal, sitting round a table with coffee/tea and sweets with good conversation and interest to our invited guests," according to the leader of the group. Everyone is welcome."

There has never been a better time to join PWAC with the national membership drive on until March 31/12 and a great welcoming offer! http://www.pwac.ca/joiningpwac/joinpwac 

As a current member you can earn your next year’s dues and MagNet conference opportunities by welcoming new members!  The MagNet information is now up and early bird rate, your registration must be received no later than 5:00 pm (EST) on May 4, 2012.  http://magnet.magazinescanada.ca/

And don’t forget that PWAC is hosting an online auction Donation Drive with great offerings at 
 http://www.32auctions.com/organizations/3072/auctions/3434