As they seek to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions in the digital environment, governments are forced to react by adapting current policies and adopting new ones that account for emerging practices and, most importantly, the stakeholders whose business models threaten this diversity. Québec must also address this challenge by modernizing its own cultural policy arsenal and other essential measures to preserve the diversity of cultural expressions.
Québec must preserve the diversity of cultural expressions.
Aiming to inform decision-makers, this project assessed the political, legislative and regulatory developments in a set of jurisdictions (Germany, Australia, French Community of Belgium, Catalonia (Spain), France and the United Kingdom), as well as within the European Union and OECD, in four sectors: audiovisual, books, music and media.
At present, the most ambitious reforms are being implemented in the audiovisual sector, compelling foreign platforms such as Netflix to promote national cultural content just as traditional operators have done for many years.
In the book industry, massive investment has made it possible to modernize the digital loans process in public libraries and support authors and publishers in their adaptation to digital. Few innovative measures have been set in motion in the music industry, with the exception of limited copyright reform.
Finally, governments are struggling to recognize the key role of media and provide outlets with support so they may continue to endorse the diversity of cultural expressions, including those in the digital environment.
Main researcher
Véronique Guèvremont, Université Laval
Deposit of the research report: November 2019