Annual Report 2024
Building a world where copyright and creative work are respected and valued.
Chair Report
"Access Copyright is not standing pat. It is forging ahead on
a new path."
During the three years I have served as Chair of the Access Copyright Board of Directors, the organization has...
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Mark LovewellChair, Access Copyright Board
Image credit: David Lasker
CEO Report
"If Access Copyright didn’t exist, an organization like it
would need to be created."
For me, 2024 was defined by listening and learning.
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Kate EdwardsCEO, Access Copyright
Image credit: Emily Doukogiannis
For most authors, Access [Copyright] income provides an additional cushion that allows them the financial space to work. If that space is closed, it may result in an author not starting a new work or abandoning a work in progress. Payouts can be very important to give more time to write.
Access Copyright Affiliate, 2024 Strategic Planning SurveyImage credit: Marcel Strauss, Unsplash
Year in Review
Access Copyright makes it easy for users to share content responsibly, collect payment for this use, and distribute the royalties we generate to creators and publishers. This leads to the creation of new works that contribute to Canadian culture and society.
"Access Copyright serves as a hub for copyright education in Canada, for our members as well as the wider community we serve."
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"Access Copyright was among the creator and publisher organizations represented in Ottawa on April 30 for an AI Day of Action."
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"Access Copyright’s 2025-2028 strategic plan charts an energizing and exciting future for the organization."
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"...the Plaintiffs admitted before the Copyright Board of Canada that their schools made compensable copies of works within Access Copyright’s repertoire..."
Read moreMost writers and independent publishers are always just scraping by. Literally every dollar counts. The revenues from Access Copyright are a burst of sunlight in an overall cloudy environment for small publishers and most authors.
Access Copyright Affiliate, 2024 Strategic Planning SurveyImage credit: Finde Zukunft, Unsplash
Distributions & Financials
Revenues
In 2024, Access Copyright realized $14.148 million in revenue. Notably, corporate-licensing revenue increased by $379K, an uptick primarily realized through work undertaken to expand our business licensee base.Distributions
Distributions to rights holders in 2024 came in at $7.691 million, a continuing reflection of how the education fair-dealing exception has contributed to the economic harm felt by Canadian creators and publishers. With the conclusion of the K-12 litigation action combined with Access Copyright transitioning to a supporting role in advocacy, the Board made the decision, as of 2024, to cease the 5% withholding of revenues directed toward tariff, litigation, and advocacy costs. This move is poised to result in modestly higher distributions to rights holders in 2025 and for the foreseeable future.Expenses
Overall, Access Copyright ended 2024 in a favourable financial position with a surplus of $1.884 million. Throughout the year, the organization carefully managed its expenses following the completion of an organizational restructuring at the end of 2023, the winding down of Imprimo, a past innovation project, as well as a transition to a remote-first work environment that included sub-leasing a smaller physical office from the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency. For 2024, total expenses came in at $3.430 million.Distributions at a Glance
2024 Domestic Distributions (millions)*
*This chart predicts the 2024 split in domestic distributions
based on the results of the 2023 publisher royalty
survey.
As a small-town independent community newspaper, every dollar makes a huge difference with razor thin margins.
Access Copyright Affiliate, 2024 Strategic Planning SurveyImage credit: Jaredd Craig, Unsplash
Access Copyright Foundation
In total, the Foundation awarded grants to 86 recipients in 2024 totalling $300,000 in grant funding.
A listing of 2024 recipients can be found on the Foundation’s website.
Listings
Lara Caplan, Vice-Chair
Linda McCollum, Treasurer
Arjun Basu
Diane Davy
Neil Harris
Sonya Lalli
Marcia Lea
Eric Enno Tamm
Cara Yarzab
Kate Edwards, CEO
Michael Andrews, Chief Financial Officer
Bil Antoniou, Royalties and Client Services Associate
Rino Falcioni, Head, Technology Services
Erin Finlay, Legal Counsel
Dale Gallea, Royalties and Client Services
Xin Ge, Manager, Accounting
Robert Gilbert, Manager, Communications and Marketing
Silvia Grunberg, Head, Royalties and Client Services
Joan Lewis-Milne, Head, Business Development
Ivana Morelli, Royalties and Client Services Associate
Christina Ransom, Senior Information & Business Process Specialist
Irma Rebelo, Intermediate Accountant
Sean Ross, Accounts Payable Associate
Stephen Sawyer, Manager, Business Systems
Annmarie Uleryk, Senior Information & Business Process Specialist
Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators
Canadian Association of University Teachers
Canadian Authors Association
Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers
Crime Writers of Canada
Federation of BC Writers
League of Canadian Poets
Manitoba Writers’ Guild
Playwrights Guild of Canada
Professional Outdoor Media Association of Canada
Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild
The Writers’ Union of Canada
WritersNL
Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick
Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia
Writers’ Guild of Alberta
Association of Canadian Publishers
Association of Canadian University Presses
Association of Manitoba Book Publishers
Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association
Book Publishers Association of Alberta
Books BC
Canadian Association of Learned Journals
Canadian Publishers’ Council
Literary Press Group
Magazine Association of BC
Magazines Canada
Music Publishers Canada
News Media Canada
Ontario Book Publishers Organization
SaskBooks