Jair Dynast Photo

Canadian rappers should be proud to know that the Government of Canada through its Parliament has given the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) the broad mandate to preserve Canada’s music and documentary heritage to make it easily accessible to all.

The Library and Archives Canada was established in 2004 as a single organization to collect copies of all published materials that are released and to legally require that Canadian publishers send copies of all publications within a week of their release to the Library & Archives of Canada.

The Library and Archives of Canada Act is a law that musicians and publishers should be aware of as it encompasses everything that the music industry produces, not just books and magazines but also music scores, CDs, DVDs, online documents and all kinds of materials published in an electronic format.

In the case of printed materials, two copies should be sent to LAC, if no more than 100-copies are produced. For hip hop music or sound recordings, only one copy is required and this law applies to individual, associations and corporations – no one is too small.  Canada has been progressive in this area having had a system of legal deposit since 1953 as a way to preserve the nation’s cultural heritage for current and future generations.

LAC catalogs the recorded items and stores materials in a climate-controlled environment.  In addition, LAC will provide International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) and International Standard Music Numbers (ISMNs) to help identify published materials, plus through the Canadian Cataloging in Publication program, LAC also helps to publicize Canadian publications to book stores and other libraries.

Rap music artists, rap and hip hop labels that want to use hip hop music as a vehicle for socio-economic issues may find this a valuable resource to expose new rap songs to Canadians at home and abroad.  For rappers in the U.S. who are now witnessing a descendant of the slaves that built the White House occupy it in this century, it’s enlightening to finally have a government by the people for the people from the people.