January 26, 2007: Join PWAC in Vancouver, May 24-27

Heather Robertson and David Beers to Address PWAC in Vancouver

The 2007 PWAC National Conference and AGM in spectacular downtown Vancouver, is shaping up to be another must-attend event for Canadian writing and publishing professionals.

Our keynote speaker will be David Beers, founder and editor of BC's groundbreaking and influential web-based magazine The Tyee.

Beers is the former editor of Mother Jones magazine. Over the past two decades, his work has been published in magazines including Harper's, The Los Angeles Times Magazine and The New York Times Magazine. In 1993, The Crash of Blue Sky California won him a Canadian National Magazine Award for best essay and became the foundation for his book, Blue Sky Dream. In 1994, We're No Angels -- which outlined his dissatisfaction with Vancouver as a "post-modern fantasy city" -- was a finalist for the same award.

As well, PWAC member and heroine Heather Robertson will be on hand to deliver a "report to the class" concerning last October's Supreme Court of Canada decision in Heather Robertson et al vs. Thomson Corp. et al, the fundamental digital copyright test case in defense of writers' rights.

Other events include a writer/editor panel discussion on media independence, and a full slate of professional development seminars on freelance writing for beginners and veterans alike.

As always, PWAC will be celebrating our fabulous volunteers and award-winning members with our annual Saturday evening Awards Dinner (and dance).

It all takes place right in the heart of one of Canada's most picturesque cities. All meetings and seminars will be held at the Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre, and guest rooms for all budgets are available at both the downtown Delta Hotel and the YWCA.

Registration costs and information on how to sign up will follow by mid-February, but in the meantime, book May 24-27th in your schedule.

PWAC would like to thank Access Copyright and Magazines Canada once again for their generous support of our National Conference.

NB: Travel to the PWAC National Conference &AGM is being sponsored by WestJet, who are offering a discounted fare to Vancouver from any WestJet boarding point for all conference attendees. If you wish to book your flight now you should complete and submit a booking request form. Booking request forms available from PWAC National Office at info@pwac.ca. WestJet?s flight schedule can be accessed on their website -- www.westjet.com

January 26, 2007: PWAC member blog up for award

Congratulations to PWAC-Quebec Chapter President Craig Silverman whose popular media-related web-log regrettheerror.com is a finalist for Best Canadian Web Log in the 7th Annual Bloggies (web log awards).

Regret the Error tracks and publicizes media errors and corrections, and publishes and annual "best-of" list called The Crunks.

If you wanted to help Craig win this award, and we know you do, you can vote for Regret the Error at the Bloggy link above.

January 24, 2007: Writers' Union criticizes Supreme Court decision

In a press release loaded to their website yesterday. The Writer's Union of Canada criticizes the Supreme Court of Canada for missing free speech implications in the long-running case of Vancouver's Little Sister's Bookstore.

From the release:

In 1990 Little Sister's Bookstore, a gay and lesbian bookstore in Vancouver, launched an action against Canada Customs with respect to its seizing books and magazines destined for the store -- materials that Canada Customs claimed were "obscene."

The latest decision of the SCC deals with an issue of advance funding for the bookstore in their ongoing dispute with Canada Customs. Read the full release at the TWUC site.

January 24, 2007: Was the 2006 Giller Prize rigged?

In a column on the Geist magazine website, Stephen Henighan suggests the 2006 Giller Prize (awarded to Vincent Lam for Bloodletting and Other Miraculous Cures) was a case of the old guard acting as kingmaker.

Interestingly, one of the "old guard" to whom Henighan refers, Alice Munro, has a story published in the latest issue of Geist. Coincidence?

Thanks to the Canadian Magazines blog for the tip.

January 19, 2007: PWAC stands behind writer

Toronto witer and editor Derek Finkle was back in court yesterday morning, where his lawyer presented a motion to quash a subpoena demanding the notes and research material from Finkle's book No Claim to Mercy, about the Robert Baltovich murder trial.

Quoted today in the Globe & Mail, Mr. Finkle said "This issue goes beyond me. This affects all journalists and their ability to gather information. If I had known that all the research material I gathered over four or five years was going to be used for the purpose of prosecuting someone -- or for any other purpose at all -- I probably wouldn't have written the book."

PWAC attended the proceedings yesterday, in support of Mr. Finkle, and we will be back in court when the matter resumes on February 19th.

January 16, 2007: Toronto retreat for writers

Writers looking for some concentrated "away" time to start, continue or finish a particular project are encouraged to apply to the Gibraltar Point International Artist Residency Program for Summer 07.

In this juried program, accepted applicants are given a private bedroom and a private work studio for the entire month of June 2007, in an exclusive arts centre on Toronto Island. All meals are provided. The only responsibility of the artist is to work.

Gibraltar Point provides a unique locale for the work of a writer as it is secluded, private and wild, yet just minutes from the heart of downtown Toronto by ferry.

PWACers have participated in this program in the past, and it is highly recommended.

The deadline for applications for the coming session is February 21st.

January 15, 2007: How much, exactly?

Maclean's magazine columnist Paul Wells, who gave a very entertaining keynote at our Ottawa conference last May, has published a very interesting detail indeed on his popular web log, Inkless Wells.

Talking up some recent changes to the main Maclean's website, Wells wrote (emphasis ours):

Those of you who come straight here to your bookmarked Inkless home-away-from-home will have missed many changes to our main macleans.ca page, spearheaded mostly by Adam but with substantial input from our boss Ken Whyte, who is frequently reminded by his bosses that Rogers makes a lot of money on this internet thing and that it should seek to do more.

So, bottom line: if you're only reading Maclean's on paper, you're not capturing the complete Maclean's experience.

Does this signal the official death of "well, no-one really knows how to make money from web content yet, so we can't pay you for those rights" as the standard reason to not compensate freelance writers for their web rights. And this freelancer is excited to anticipate the announcement that Rogers Media will be leading the industry into a new era of fair compensation for valuable web content.

Thanks to Chris for the tip.

January 12, 2007: Writer back in court

Derek Finkle, a Toronto witer and editor, returns to court Thursday, January 18th to continue his fight against an order demanding he turn over research notes, interview transcripts and confidential source information to prosecutors in an infamous murder case.

PWAC will attend the latest hearing and continue to monitor this case in support of Mr. Finkle's right to protect his source material.

January 11, 2007: the value of good writing

A recent piece in the New York Times suggests the experience of reading a high-end print magazine remains valuable even in today's digitally-mad media landscape.

From the article (by David Carr):

Magazines that are prospering now offer an environment that cannot be replicated online. You cannot open your browser and have an experience akin to the September issue of Vogue, with its hundreds of pages of brutally trendy ads mixed in with aspirational articles. The thingness of a magazine, its physical properties, have become increasingly important.

That is part of the reason that Conde Nast is betting tens of millions on a new high-end business magazine -- Portfolio -- at a time when the Web is full of every manner of business information being pushed and pulled at and by consumers.

Of course, the 'thingness' of a great magazine starts with great writing.

Thanks to the Canadian Magazines blog for the tip on this article.

January 10, 2007: The value of writers

After years of consultation and research, the government of Ontario has released its official report on the Status of the Artist. PWAC contributed to the creation of this report through consultation and ongoing advocacy.

The report is essentially a wide-ranging call for improvement of the socio-economic status of working creators, including freelance writers; a recognition of the valuable and measurable economic and cultural impact professional creators have on society; and an important step toward meaningful Status of the Artist legislation in Ontario. A strong Status Act in Ontario would help writers across Canada, since many of the major Canadian writing markets have their corporate headquarters in the province.

Here are a couple of recommendations from the Executive Summary of the report:

LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE ARTISTS' SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS

That the Minister of Culture introduce legislation that formally recognizes the unique economic and social contributions of Ontario's artists. This legislation should also include:

-- A range of tax benefits which will reflect the unique nature of artistic activities and encourage new creative output in Ontario, e.g., a provincial tax credit based on a range of eligible expenses; expansion of the existing PST exemption program to ensure more artists have access to the program, and that more supplies are subject to the exemption

-- Measures to provide standard protection for children in the performing arts.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

That the Ministry of Culture establish a time-limited process where parties with a direct interest in any mandatory collective bargaining regime are invited to meet with representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Labour to work toward consensus.

PWAC repeats our call to Ontario Culture Minister, The Honourable Caroline di Cocco to introduce meaningful legislation, including a collective bargaining component, before the next provincial election.

You can download a PDF of the full report by clicking the link below:

REPORT ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE ARTIST IN ONTARIO IN THE 21 ST CENTURY

January 10, 2007: Steelworkers support creators

The United Steelworkers union (USW) has announced their support for the ACTRA strike. The strike focuses on the issue of digital usage of creator work, and the USW makes a clear call for fair compensation for digital uses.

Here is the complete press release:

9 JANUARY 2007
STEELWORKERS STAND BEHIND STRIKING CANADIAN ACTORS:
ACTRA negotiations plummet

TORONTO -- United Steelworkers' (USW) National Director Ken Neumann said Tuesday that the first strike in 64 years by Canada's film and television performers would not have begun if independent producers recognized the value they get from Canadian performers.

"Some producers have already come to their senses and signed interim agreements with the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA,) which allows current productions to continue," said Neumann. "But the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) is reacting by threatening to take ACTRA to court, not only calling the agreements illegal, but even calling into question ACTRA's right to represent actors."

USW and ACTRA have a formalized strategic alliance that includes working together on public policy, organizing, education and mutual support in the case of labour disputes. The alliance was signed at the USW International Convention in April, 2005.

Neumann said CFTPA's actions call into question its commitment to ensuring that current productions are able to complete their schedules.

"The CFTPA's position is about as destructive as it gets," he said. "Producers can demand all the tax incentives and preferential conditions they want, but without actors there isn't going to be a show. These workers must be paid fairly for their talent and skills."

With a major sticking point being use of performances in such new media as the internet, the two sides were unable to reach agreement on how residuals would work.

"The future of our careers is based on how payment is made down the line," said veteran Canadian actor Eric Peterson. "Performances are like styrofoam. They last forever -- on film, on DVD and now the internet. We don't work for free in movies or on television, and we won't work for free on the internet."

Neumann said Steelworkers will support ACTRA in any way they can for as long as the dispute continues. "If there are picket lines we will be there. This is about Canadian culture and Canadian workers' rights. It's as simple as that."

In Canada, the USW represents more than 280,000 men and women working in every sector of the economy. ( www.actra.ca ; www.usw.ca )

-30-

CONTACT: Ken Neumann 416.487.1571; 416.558.2510

January 08, 2007: Creators' Rights Watch

With a 97.6 percent strike vote, ACTRA, the union representing 21,000 television, film and radio performers has advised members not to report to work until fair compensation for digital use (cellphones, internet, etc.) are negotiated with producers. The Toronto Star has a full report on the state of the strike, including productions who have signed agreements with ACTRA to avoid work stoppage.

Digital use compensation is also at the heart of many freelance writer contract disputes, and was in fact the centre of the recently decided Supreme Court of Canada appeal in the Heather Robertson vs.Thomson Corp. class action.

January 05, 2007: Welcome to PWAC's New Blog

As you can see, PWAC has migrated our popular writing industry blog onto our beautiful new website.

All of the content from the old blog is, unfortunately, not available to you in these archives, but we have placed a link to the old blog in the right hand menu, and that will allow you to seek out and re-read all of your favorite PWAC postings from months past. And who wouldn't want to do something like that?

January 05, 2007: upcoming seminars (Toronto)

Start planning your New Year's professsional development. If you are in Toronto over the next couple of months, be sure to spend an evening at the Northern District Library with PWAC-Toronto, who always have a fabulous event on offer:

Wed. January 17, 2007, 7 pm to 8:30 pm:
Specialist or Generalist: Jack-of-All-Trades or Master of One.
Should freelancers specialize in one particular area or try to cover a wide, general body of knowledge? Find out what our informed panelists, some of Canada's most successful freelance writers, think and do.

Thurs. February 22, 2007, 7 pm to 8:30 pm:
Professional Interviewing Techniques
Tips on how to get information from subjects, featuring experienced journalists and others who interview for a living, such as police officers, psychologists, and so on.

Location:
Northern District Library (Room #200), 40 Orchardview Blvd. (west off Yonge, just north of Eglinton)

Cost:
PWAC members - Free; General public - pay what you can ($10 suggested pay at the door)

Afterwards:
Join the panelists, PWAC members. and other writers for Cheers with Peers in the Manchester Arms pub--conveniently located downstairs from the library.

Details:
www.networds.ca

... and remember to keep an eye on your local PWAC chapter website for information on upcoming events in your area.

January 02, 2007: Promising New Year

Happy New Year to all PWAC blog readers. We start 2007 with a bang:

The Canadian Magazines blog has proposed a New Year's resolution for the entire Canadian magazine industry -- raise the rates for freelance writing.

Read all about it here.

Thanks once again to D.B. Scott over at Canadian Magazines for championing the rates issue. Our two blogs referred to each other and linked up often in 2006, setting up an unprecedented dialogue between the writing and publishing corners of the industry. Here's hoping for much more of that in 2007!

And please note -- PWAC's blog will very soon be switching to a new format. At the launch of PWAC's brand new website, this blog will be incorporated fully into the PWAC homepage, and will look significantly different. Keep an eye out for the switch and follow us to our new look and location. We'll give you plenty of warning and we'll leave a trail of breadcrumbs.