Over the past several years, Words & Music has endeavoured to highlight as many aspects of SOCAN’s operations as possible. We have tried to explain how your organization works, and how each department impacts both on SOCAN’s overall financial performance and on the quality of your own finances as members.

Like any other organization, SOCAN is not immune to such upheavals. We certainly could have done without the present crisis, but here it is, and it is another opportunity for your organization’s board of directors to meet new challenges with the help of the Risk Identification and Management Committee that forms an integral part of our governance structure.

This time, as I near the end of my mandate as SOCAN’s president, I wish to draw your attention to the least visible aspect of our crusade as we fight for the protection of our rights. I would like to devote the next paragraphs to the dedicated team of lawyers who are working tirelessly on our behalf, far away from the limelight, but without whose contribution we would not be able to survive, individually or collectively. These legal eagles play a vital role in determining the size of the royalties each of us is able to collect by helping SOCAN prepare its proposed tariffs, make its case before the Copyright Board of Canada and enforce SOCAN’s rights in the courts.

First, I salute our vice-president, Legal Services, and general counsel Paul Spurgeon, who has been leading SOCAN’s legal department for more than 30 years. He has been assisted in his task in the last 10 years by lawyer Anne Godbout, who, as director of Legal Services and legal counsel, is involved in Copyright Board hearings and day-to-day litigation.

In dealing with the complexities of copyright law and its enforcement, our legal team frequently calls on the expertise of Gilles Daigle, of the internationally renowned firm of Gowlings – SOCAN’s outside legal counsel. Having been called to testify before the Copyright Board on three or four occasions myself, I was able to get a first-hand look at this organization’s vital contribution to our welfare.

So I would like to thank all our legal experts for their colossal, untiring work.

Some exciting changes are on the horizon at SOCAN. Be sure to visit the SOCAN website, www.socan.ca, in April, where you will find we have done some spring cleaning. As part of a redesign, you will discover that our site has further improved its user-friendly interface, providing you with more information.

Available right now is our Board Election section, featuring complete instructions on how to vote in the upcoming SOCAN election to determine your new board of directors. I hope you have signed up already for online voting, a convenient system that is being introduced for the first time this year to help you make yourselves heard and cast your vote with a click of the mouse.

This magazine, too, is about to get revamped later this year. Happy reading . . . and happy spring!

President's Message 2008
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Uploaded Fall 2008

Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
Send them to Rick MacMillan, Words & Music Corporate Editor, at wordsandmusic@socan.ca