Canadian Heritage committee  It looks very scary. When I was on the board there, which I think was from 2003 to 2009, for six years I served as a creative representative on the board. Access Copyright was thriving. It was wonderful. There was so much support in the industry, and there seemed to be consensus on many issues as well when we sat around the table, with publishers and authors sitting around the same table and trying to deal with issues.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think from the writers' perspective, our work is being stolen all the time. It's being pirated and reused, because with the Internet, people can reuse your stuff now and repurpose it. Sometimes writers get charged with plagiarism against their own work because it's reused somewhere else and the words are there.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's very difficult for individual authors to police where their work is being used. I also wanted to respond about the cost that goes to the writer and what the writer is supposed to contribute. This is on the other topic you asked one of the panellists about. When I did my first book back in 2001, the publisher did all the marketing and whatnot for the book.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you. My name is Doreen Pendgracs. I'm from Manitoba, and I am the national vice-president of PWAC. We really appreciate the opportunity to participate in the discussion. I sat in on the hour that preceded us and was happy to see The Writers' Union of Canada participating, because I am also a member of that organization, as I am a hybrid author.