Copyright Consultations
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Archived - Rowat, Theresa
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Archivists protect your documentary heritage and strive to provide access in a responsible manner that respects the rights of copyright holders. I have worked for over two decades in this profession, and I know the great depth of archival holdings that cannot be made available for research under the present legislation. Archivists are asking for amendment of the Canadian Copyright Act to include a technologically neutral access right to archival holdings, permitting archives to make archival holdings accessible to the public using digital technology, including the Internet.
Archivists protect, preserve and make available the documentary heritage of Canada and its citizens for present and future generations. Traditionally the public has had to travel to our archival institutions to access this material. In the Digital Environment archives can truly come to the public rather than the public having to come to the archives. Archivists believe it is good public policy to not let the holdings in archival institutions languish in darkness because the public has no way of knowing they are available, or they have no way of traveling to the archives to use them on site.
We seek a commitment from government to deal with the millions of works that tell the stories of our country and its people and that are hidden in archives because they cannot be reproduced or posted on archival websites for research because of copyright restrictions.
Theresa Rowat
