David,
Yes, you are correct in your understanding of that element - known as
the "exhibition right" - of the 1988 amendments to Canadian copyright
law.  Under the terms of the revised legislation, any institution showing
art created after 8 June 1988 must obtain the permission of the copyright
holder (usually the creator) to exhibit the work and is subject to the
payment of exhibition fees to the copyright holder for the exhibition of
the work (whether as part of its permanent collection or as a loan in a
special temporary exhibition).

These provisions apply to all creators who own copyright in Canada.  As a
result of international conventions to which Canada is a signatory, this
means Canadian institutions must negotiate permissions and pay fees to
foreign creators/copyright holders of work created after 8 June 1988.
Foreign institutions, however, do not have to pay Canadian creators for
the exhibition of their work since their national copyright laws do not
contain an exhibition right.

Needless to say, "exhibition right" has had a major - and still evolving
- impact on gallery practice in Canada.  Without question it has
brought the will of most galleries to support the moral and economic
rights of creators into conflict with their own ability to promote
and exhibition contemporary art in the face of these new financial
and administrative obligations.  Reaction has varied widely: some
institutions have turned a blind eye to their new obligations; some have
altered their acquisition practices, either by avoiding acquisitions of
work post-dating 1988 or by insisting on acquisition of the "exhibition
right" as part of acquisition of the work of art; some have set up the
necessary mechanisms to negotiate and pay the exhibition fees (though
this is an ever-increasing administrative burden at a time of wide-spread
down-sizing in museums); and, some continue to investigate means of
licensing exhibition and other rights in a manner that respects the
rights of the creator/copyright holder without imposing on the museum a
burden which would inhibit its ability to carry out its mandated
programmes.

The issues are still actively being discussed, particularly in view of
the second round of revisions to Canadian copyright law expected in the
very near future.  Stay tuned ...

Greg Spurgeon
Head, Art Documentation & Storage
Registration
National Gallery of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario

On Tue, 9 Apr 1996, David Phillips wrote:

> from David Phillips in Manchester UK re: artists' rights
>
> Can anyone confirm whether I am right in thinking that Canada's bill
> C-60 (amended copyright act 1988) gave artists rights over the
> display of works even after sale to a public museum, far more
> extensive than the protection of reputation offered by the US VRA,
> and to some extent by the UK Copyright Act?  Presumably the Canadian
> legislation would apply only to works made after some recent date,
> but also presumably to an artist of any nationality with work in a
> Canadian museum.
>
> If that's right, how is that affecting gallery practice in Canada?
>