Submission from ACCORD for the Consulting Canadians on the operation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Consultation

1. This submission is filed by ACCORD in response to the Government of Canada’s consultation regarding the operation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Collectively, ACCORD includes: l’Association des professionnels de l’édition musicale; the Canadian Council of Music Industry Associations including Alberta Music, Cultural Industries Ontario North, Manitoba Music, Music BC, Music Nova Scotia, Music PEI, Music Yukon, Music/Musique NB, Music NL, MusicOntario, SaskMusic; the Canadian League of Composers; the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency; the Songwriters Association of Canada, the Screen Composers Guild of Canada; the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada; and la Société professionnelle des auteurs et des compositeurs du Québec et des artistes entrepreneurs. Together, ACCORD represents over 200,000 English and French-Canadian songwriters, composers, and music publishers as our members.
2. ACCORD is participating in this consultation to emphasize (i) the importance of maintaining the cultural industries exemption at Article 32.6 of CUSMA to protect Canada’s cultural sovereignty; (ii) that no artificial intelligence exceptions be introduced into CUSMA; and (iii) that any specific clauses on digital trade must never have the effect of limiting Canada’s ability to act to protect and promote its cultural industries.

Maintain the Cultural Exemption

3. Article 32.6 of CUSMA (the “Cultural Exemption”) sets out a general exemption that CUSMA does not apply to a measure adopted or maintained by Canada with respect to a cultural industry.
4. The effect of the Cultural Exemption is to protect Canada’s cultural identity and sovereignty. This is imperative to maintaining Canadian cultural policies that encourage the development of Canadian songs that reflect Canadian attitudes, opinions, ideas, values and artistic creativity.
5. Maintaining the Cultural Exemption is particularly important regarding the ongoing modernization of Canadian content policies undertaken by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (“CRTC”) because of the implementation of the Online Streaming Act. The resulting regulations and decisions from the CRTC to encourage financial contributions to, and the promotion and recommendation of, Canadian content is protected by the Cultural Exemption.
6. Minister Guilbeault has already stated that “culture is not and will not be on the table”[1] as Canada works out its new trading relationship with the United States, and ACCORD is in favour of this position.
7. As a result, we emphasize the importance of maintaining the Cultural Exemption under CUSMA and resisting any attempts to undercut or weaken it.

Reject Any Exceptions for Artificial Intelligence

8. Generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) is a disruptive force for the Canadian music economy. We are only at the beginning of understanding the full potential and implications of AI in the creative sphere and we urge the Government to maintain the policy objectives of the Copyright Act, that is, to foster creativity and to ensure creators and their representatives continue to have the means to control how their works are used, by whom, and on what terms.
9. Currently, the use of copyright-protected works is important for the development of generative AI models. However, this is being done without obtaining permission from, compensation for or credit to rights holders for the use of their works. In effect, human creators are currently fueling advances in generative AI models, without sharing in any of the benefits.
10. A copyright exception to allow for text and data mining would irrevocably disrupt the legislative balance of the Copyright Act and completely exclude the development of a healthy licensing market.
11. Any attempt to include a text and data mining copyright exception in the renegotiation of CUSMA should be rejected. We must maintain flexibility in our trade negotiations to allow the establishment of a “made-in-Canada” AI regulatory framework that ensures the benefits of AI are shared with those who are vital to its development.

Digital Trade Clauses Must Not Undermine Canada’s Cultural Industries

12. Digitization has fundamentally transformed how the cultural economy works and how cultural goods are disseminated. It is important that any proposed clauses on digital trade are scrutinized with this transformation in mind to ensure there are no consequences that would have the effect of limiting Canada’s ability to act to protect and promote its cultural industries.
13. We thank you for your consideration of our comments in this consultation.

Sincerely,

ACCORD

Association des professionnels de l’édition musicale (APEM)

Canadian Council of Music Industry Associations (CCMIA)

Canadian League of Composers (CLC)

Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA)

Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC)

Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC)

Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN)

Société professionnelle des auteurs et des compositeurs du Québec et des artistes entrepreneurs (SPACQ-AE)

[1] https://www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/10/15/minister-guilbeault-says-culture-is-not-on-the-table-in-trade-talks-amid-trumps-renewed-foreign-film-tariff-threats-and-domestic-digital-policy-uncertainty/477050/