February 25, 2026.
Dear Friends of Arts & Culture,
It was my pleasure to attend the aptly named “Valuing Human Creativity in the Age of AI” Conference on February 11th at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. It was beautifully produced by the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, (CDCE-CDEC) the leading national advocates for copyright protection, with over 50 of the largest cultural organizations in Canada as its members.
While Canada has had copyright laws for many years, it has not had protection from theft. Copyright law has not stopped major international artificial intelligence organizations from scraping off everything to be found online, all the digital content our artists or anyone has created, no permissions sought. Free content to help the billionaires get richer by replacing genuine human talent with AI fakes.
At the conference, a renowned Quebec illustrator described seeing AI imitations of their work used to compete against them, offering free imitations of their work. We heard about American novelists, referenced by the Montreal media lawyer, relating the trial of Meta for taking their books without payment, but the writers couldn’t win, even with a sympathetic court, because they had no tangible evidence of damage. They had sued from the wrong legal angle.
When Canada’s Prime Minister can have a deep fake version of himself hawking cryptocurrency, what effective controls do we have over AI manipulation, fraud and theft. Australia’s representative was proud to announce they were taking on the AI oligarchs for their deep fake pornography business. Sadly, there is no time for our traditional comfort with complacency.
Canada’s sovereignty is under attack and to protect it we will draw on the strength of our cultural sovereignty. It’s been awhile since we had such a glowing view of ourselves which is notably popular around the free world. Canada’s brand value has never been higher and that expression is dependent on our identity, founded in the cultural realm.
“Culture is what we do” said media prophet Marshall McLuhan. And we all do digital, that’s why the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said simply; “We believe that what is illegal offline, is illegal online. And that digital sovereignty is part of cultural sovereignty.”
Not in Canada you say – capitulation to the amoral AI oligarchs is unacceptable and that will not change.
The expert from UK Media said the big answer is a simple one: Transparency – make the sources transparent. Indicate the actual origin of the work like the Canadian government plans to do by ‘watermarking’ their work product.
Years ago, big Music rights organizations sold their content in bulk for pennies to Spotify and other streamers, crushing the music recording industry, curtailing the development of new music and doing what every technological innovation does, provide a windfall to the content inventory holders, so they can resell what already exists, undermining the creation of new.
Protecting the creation of new must be what drives generative AI policy in Canada. Copyright must remain a given understanding, the foundation for overdue protection, and the impetus for creatives’ education, enabling writers, musicians, and visual artists to participate in the recognition and protection of their rights, by enabling collaboration in the enforcement of ownership rights for Canadian creators.
If you’re going to the big Heritage AI conference in Banff in March please someone, ask for us who aren’t – Why doesn’t the government understand and appreciate the global brand value potential in new Canadian content? We have a rich Canadian content advantage that our country’s creatives can build upon for our sovereignty and success, if only given the chance to be informed and protected at home.
I’m looking for volunteers for a national AI and Cr8rs Advocacy panel, charged with bringing professional artists into discussions that will determine their digital futures.
Thank you for your supportive interest.
Best regards,
Mike Douglas
Mississauga Arts Council
PS Stay tuned for our new AIandCr8rs.net website, in which we will begin adding generative AI research.