Sent to Hon. Daniel Lee, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Innovation & Intellectual Property (Acting). Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Dear Mr. Lee
Music Creators North America, Inc. (MCNA) is the representative coalition for tens of thousands of songwriters and music composers throughout the United States and Canada. We write today to respectfully encourage further USTR action on a matter of great importance to music creators of the United States, namely, the expression of USTR’s energetic support for passage by the Canadian Government of laws that will extend the term of copyright protection for musical works in Canada.
MCNA congratulates the US and Canadian Governments for recognizing in their recent trade negotiations the enormous economic and cultural benefits that will flow from Canada conforming its terms of copyright protection for both musical compositions and recordings to the highest levels of Berne Convention and CUSMA/NAFTA standards, and urges USTR to do all it can to support timely legislation initiatives in Canada to ratify the term extension provisions recently agreed upon regarding copyrighted works of all types.
Copies of two MCNA letters dated February 28, 2017 and February 25, 2020 to members of the Canadian Government are attached for USTR’s files and reference. MCNA thanks USTR for its tremendous efforts on this issue, and for its continued support for the music creators and copyright owners of the United States.
Sincerely,
Rick Carnes
President, Songwriters Guild of America, Inc.
o/b/o Music Creators North America, Inc.
(Photo: Taxiarchos228, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons)