Federal tribunal still reviewing impact of CRTC ruling on new media workers

Last year's ruling by the CRTC to classify most new media as broadcasting has prompted another federal tribunal to determine what impact this decision has on the collective bargaining rights of new media workers. At issue is a piece of federal legislation called The Status of the Artist Act, which protects independent contractors working for broadcast undertakings or federal departments and institutions (CNM, April 15/99). The Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal, a quasi-judicial agency that identifies sectors of cultural activity suitable for collective bargaining, is still unsure how the Act applies to new media workers. And it appears that uncertainty won't be resolved until somebody brings a case before the tribunal, according to its general counsel. Josée Dubois says the tribunal isn't able to unilaterally add new professions to those already contained in the legislation, without an actual case before it. "I don't know myself all the different kinds of professions that might fall from new media," Dubois told Canadian NEW MEDIA. "Our Act sets out some definitions of what people come under the Act; the definition is fairly broad. It's up to the tribunal members, if they're faced with a new profession-to decide if that person was an artist under the Act." As it stands now, "new media" as a category is not specifically recognized within the tribunal, and the sector's professional activities are not well defined. Some new media professionals are already protected by The Status of the Artist Act if they do contract work for regulated broadcast licensees, federal departments or agencies. Dubois says last year's CRTC ruling means that legislation now applies to a much larger constituency of new media workers. The problem, she adds, is identifying who those workers are. "From our reading of what the CRTC has said and our reading of the Act, it would appear that, for example, businesses engaged in netcasting could likely, if they were to hire independent contractors to provide certain services that are covered under the Act, then, yes indeed, the act would apply to these people. But, the premise of this is that, for the actual client, there has to be a certified artist association that can bargain on behalf of these people." Protection afforded to the individual is done through artist associations which negotiate with producers, and bring cases against those producers if negotiation is done in bad faith. The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists is a well-known example. The problem is that the field is too green for new media worker associations to have evolved and been certified by the tribunal. Dubois says it could be a long time before the tribunal decides that it will afford the protection of its Act to new media workers. "It depends on how fast the artists' associations themselves work," she explains. "If artists' associations are able to bargain with new media producers then things are going smoothly - but we'll probably never hear anything about it. However, if producers refuse to bargain, or aren't bargaining in good-faith, then the artists' associations may then come to the tribunal and file a complaint." The rapid rise of the Internet has created another issue for the tribunal to consider. In its recently released budget estimates document, the tribunal notes that problems in enforcing copyright through civil litigation "has led to suggestions that copyright be made a matter of contract in scale agreements negotiated under The Status of the Artist Act, thereby permitting enforcement through the grievance arbitration system".

Federal tribunal still reviewing impact of CRTC ruling on new media workers

Broadcast | May 4, 2000

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