Organizations representing a broad cross section of Canadian industries, including software, book publishing and entertainment, today congratulated the Canadian government for taking a strong stand on intellectual property rights protection as a party to the G8 statement, "Combating IPR Piracy and Counterfeiting."

The following statement was issued by the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST), Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network (CACN), Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA), Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association (CMPDA), Canadian Music Publishers Association (CMPA), Canadian Publishers Council (CPC), Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC) and Music Industries Association of Canada (MIAC):

We congratulate the Government of Canada for its strong and unqualified support for intellectual property rights as expressed in the joint statement of the G8 countries in St. Petersburg, Russia. We fully support all of the commitments and actions outlined by Canada and the other G8 countries.

Furthermore, we look forward to the Canadian government fulfilling these commitments as soon as possible in order to better protect intellectual property in the digital age. The introduction and passage of new federal copyright legislation will be a key step to fulfilling the commitments.

Signed by:

Jacqueline Famulak, President
Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST)

Doug Geralde, Chair
Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network (CACN)

Guy Mayson, President and CEO
Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA)

Douglas C. Frith, President
Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association (CMPDA)

Catharine Saxberg, Executive Director
Canadian Music Publishers Association (CMPA)

Jacqueline Hushion, Executive Director
Canadian Publishers Council (CPC)

Graham Henderson, President
Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)

Danielle LaBossiere, Executive Director
Entertainment Software Association of Canada (ESAC)

Al Kowalenko, Executive Director
Music Industries Association of Canada (MIAC)

G8 Statement Highlights

• We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening individual and collective efforts to combat piracy and counterfeiting.
• We consider it necessary to give priority to promoting and upholding laws, regulations and/or procedures to strengthen intellectual property enforcement.
• We consider it necessary to take, in the near term, the following concrete measures which will form the basis of a G8 work plan on piracy and counterfeiting:
• To improve border enforcement through increased customs co-ordination and exchange of enforcement information and best practices.
• To create in each G8 country a website providing businesses and individuals with information on mechanisms available and procedures necessary to secure and enforce their intellectual property rights in that country.

See the full text of the statement below or view it at: http://en.g8russia.ru/docs/15.html.