D-8.1, r. 3 - Regulation respecting the accreditation of publishers in Québec

Updated to 1 June 2024

This document has official status.

chapter D-8.1, r. 3

Regulation respecting the accreditation of publishers in Québec

Act respecting the development of Québec firms in the book industry

(chapter D-8.1, ss. 15, 17, 20 and 38).

DIVISION I APPLICATION

1. This Regulation does not apply to government departments, agencies or mandataries or to the bodies listed in the Schedule to the Act. Legal persons and partnerships in which a government department or body holds stocks, shares or assets are also exempted from its application.

This Regulation does not apply to publishers of periodicals, who remain eligible for financial aid from the Government without being holders of a certificate of accreditation or eligible therefor.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3, s. 1; O.C. 351-98, s. 1.

DIVISION II ELIGIBILITY FOR ACCREDITATION

2. In addition to the stipulations set forth in sections 15 and 16 of the Act respecting the development of Québec firms in the book industry (chapter D-8.1), a person who carries on publishing activities in Québec on his own behalf must, if he wishes to become accredited, comply with the following norms and conditions:

(1)  have his head office or principal establishment in Québec;

(2)  in the case of a partnership, be registered with the enterprise registrar;

(3)  if a legal person, a company, a cooperative association, a savings and credit union, or a caisse d’entraide économique, be constituted either under the Statutes of Canada or the Statutes of Québec;

(4)  prove and certify that every person controlling or owning preferred shares, debentures, bonds or any debt allowing the effective control of the publishing house is eligible for accreditation under sections 15 and 16 of the Act; such proof is not required in the case of a debt owed to a Canadian chartered bank or an institution registered with the Autorité des marchés financiers if the debt is not secured or is guaranteed by persons referred to in sections 15 and 16 of the Act;

(5)  during the fiscal period preceding the application for accreditation, except for titles printed privately and for official documents of a government or an international organization in all cases:

(a)  have published at least 5 titles by Québec authors or possess an inventory of at least 15 titles by Québec authors, or

(b)  for a publishing house specializing in art books, have published at least 3 titles by Québec authors or possess an inventory of at least 5 titles by Québec authors, or

(c)  for a publishing house that has been in operation for less than 3 years, have published at least 5 titles by Québec authors or possess an inventory of at least 8 titles by Québec authors;

(6)  be up-to-date in the payment of royalties owing to each of the authors of books already published, in accordance with the contract that binds the author to the publisher and subject to section 5;

(7)  produce financial statements for the last fiscal period;

(8)  name the publishing houses for which he personally ensures exclusive distribution.

For the purposes of subparagraph 5 of the first paragraph, the titles published must be by at least 3 different authors, in the case of titles under subparagraphs a and c, and by at least 2 different authors, in the case of titles under subparagraph b.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3, s. 2; O.C. 2798-84, s. 1; O.C. 351-98, s. 2.

3. A person described in section 2 who personally distributes his goods must supply accredited bookstores in accordance with the Act, regulations and standard business practices.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3, s. 3.

4. A person described in section 2 must furnish with his application and annually thereafter, a sworn declaration in which he undertakes to fully comply with the Act and regulations at all times, and must certify that he complies with the provisions of this Regulation.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3, s. 4.

DIVISION III ISSUE OF THE CERTIFICATE OF ACCREDITATION

5. A person who applies for accreditation or a holder of a certificate of accreditation who is not up-to-date in paying royalties to authors does not as a result of that fact become ineligible for accreditation or financial aid from the Government if he undertakes, upon his application for accreditation or financial aid, to immediately pay as a first priority, using his own money or available funds, royalties owing to authors, unless there exists an agreement with the Minister of Culture, Communications and the Status of Women on the terms and conditions of payment of the royalties.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3, s. 5.

DIVISION IV EXTENSION OF ACCREDITATION

6. A holder of a certificate of accreditation must not take part in any collusion, exercise any undue influence or be involved in trading of favours, and must avoid any conflict of interest in his relations with an institution or agency mentioned in section 3 and in the Schedule to the Act, or with its directors, mandataries or representatives.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3, s. 6.

7. Accreditation is non-assignable and may not be transferred without authorization from the Minister.

If the holder of a certificate of accreditation goes bankrupt and if the bankruptcy trustee decides to continue the activities of the holder and notifies the Minister thereof, the accreditation is extended and the trustee is then required to fulfill all the obligations imposed by the Act and regulations.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3, s. 7.

8. A certificate of accreditation issued for a set period or on a temporary basis and which has expired remains in force if an application for extension or renewal or an application for permanent accreditation is sent to the Minister on the form provided by the latter, at least 1 month before the certificate of accreditation expires.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3, s. 8.

9. A holder of a certificate of accreditation must immediately notify the Minister in writing of the winding-up, closing or bankruptcy of the publishing house.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3, s. 9.

10. In addition to complying with the Act and this Regulation at all times, a holder of a certificate of accreditation must each year, not later than 6 months after the end of each fiscal period, without a notice or a request to that effect, prepare, certify and give to the Minister a detailed report on the activities of the last fiscal period containing the following information and details correctly set forth:

(1)  the name and address of the head office or of the principal establishment of the publishing house;

(2)  the names, addresses and citizenship of the owner of persons who own or control the publishing house together with their share of the rights of ownership or the extent of their control;

(3)  the names, addresses and citizenship of the persons described in paragraph 4 of section 2 and the nature and value of their titles to property and evidences of indebtedness in the publishing house;

(4)  the names, addresses and citizenship of the persons described in section 16.4 of the Act and of directors and executive officers of the publishing house;

(5)  the number of stocks or shares and their description, and the paid-up capital;

(6)  a list of shareholders and their addresses;

(7)  the financial statements of the publishing house;

(8)  the state of sales;

(9)  the titles published, republished and reprinted and the number of copies printed per title;

(10)  the total amount of royalties owing to authors and the total amount of royalties paid to authors since the last report on all the titles listed in the publisher’s trade list.

The annual report must be certified by the signature of the owner or 2 directors of the publishing house.

The Minister must be immediately notified in writing of any major change in the annual report or in any of the conditions or requirements mentioned in section 2 made during the fiscal period.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3, s. 10.

DIVISION V FINAL PROVISION

11. A document or report or information required pursuant to paragraph 7 of section 2 and section 10 may be replaced by another official document certified true and that includes at least the information required by this Regulation.

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3, s. 11.

REFERENCES

R.R.Q., 1981, c. D-8.1, r. 3

O.C. 2798-84, 1985 G.O. 2, 59

O.C. 351-98, 1998 G.O. 2, 1466