Association of Canadian Archivists

On behalf of the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA), I am taking this opportunity to write to you in light of the introduction of proposed new copyright legislation.

As you are no doubt aware, the ACA is a federally incorporated, not-for-profit association. Established in 1975, and incorporated in 1978, the Association of Canadian Archivists represents over 600 archivists and archival institutions across Canada, with headquarters in Ottawa. The mission of the ACA is to provide leadership to the archival profession and to facilitate an understanding and appreciation of Canada's archival heritage.

Given our mandate and mission on behalf of this country's archival community, we feel very strongly that we must seek an amendment to the Copyright Act to include a technologically neutral access right to archival holdings, permitting archives to make their holdings accessible to the public using digital technology, including the Internet. In addition, we fully support the content of the recent submission to the copyright consultation process from the Canadian Council of Archives.

We are not against legislation being introduced to reflect the new realities in the realm of copyright and copyright holders, in the face of the rapidly and ever evolving technology that now drives access to information. Rather, archivists feel passionately, that as the keepers of this nation's documentary heritage, we have a very real obligation to ensure that that heritage is accessible to as many Canadians as possible, both now, and in the future. The best tool to accomplish this objective of bringing the vast wealth and richness of archival material found in this nation's archival repositories to the citizenry of Canada is via the digital environment.

However, at present, and what the ACA, on behalf of its members, is extremely concerned about is the fact that unless such an amendment to the Copyright Act, as outlined above, is incorporated into the new legislation, Canadians will be denied access to their past, due to copyright restrictions preventing archival material from being posted on archives web sites for research or reprographic purposes.

Such a scenario would be a dire state of affairs indeed, and one that I would urge you to avoid at all costs.

Thank you again, for allowing us the opportunity to express our concerns and to propose a workable solution to a complex issue. Should you, or your staff, wish to discuss this important matter further with either myself, or another member of the ACA Board of Directors, I would be pleased to do so.

Sincerely

Paul Banfield
President, Association of Canadian Archivists