A Guide to Copyrights (Page 1 of 10)
A Guide to Copyrights (PDF - 2.2 MB - 27 pages)
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The Basics
Purpose of this guide
This guide explores what copyright is, the benefits of registration and the registration process.
Although not a complete text on copyright laws or a substitute for professional advice you may need from a lawyer specializing in the area of copyright, this guide is designed to be your introduction to copyright registration and procedures.
For more detailed information on copyright procedures, consult the Copyright Act and Copyright Regulations, available online at (www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/copyrights). The CIPO Client Service Centre can also provide further information.
The glossary gives definitions of terms used in this guide.
Who we are
The Copyright Office is responsible for registering copyrights in Canada, and is part of the Copyright and Industrial Design Branch of CIPO, an agency of Industry Canada. In addition to copyrights, CIPO is responsible for most other intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, trade-marks, industrial designs and integrated circuit topographies.
The main functions of the Copyright Office are to:
- receive and process applications for copyright registration and to register them for qualifying applicants;
- maintain the Register of Copyrights; and
- receive and register grants of interest.
Contact us
CIPO's Client Service Centre (CSC) is the central point of contact for clients wishing to communicate with CIPO. The CSC supplies information on a variety of subjects such as procedures for filing patent applications and for registering trade-marks, copyrights, industrial designs, and integrated circuit topographies.
IP Search Information Officers provide numerous services, including providing IP information, answering general enquiries, and guiding clients with IP searches through various IP databases.
Visit the "Copyrights" section of the website for the following:
- instructions on getting started;
- access to the Canadian Copyrights Database to search, retrieve, and study;
- legislation, including the Copyright Act and Copyright Regulations; and
- online and printable forms, including the application for registration.
Protecting valuable creations
A poem, painting, musical score, performer's performance, computer program — all are valuable creations, although perhaps no one can measure their worth. Some may earn a lot of money in the marketplace and others, none at all. Regardless of their merit or commercial value, Canadian law regards all original creative works to be copyright material. This means that if you own the copyright to a poem, song, or other work, you have rights that are protected under the Copyright Act.
Simply put, the Act prohibits others from copying your work without your permission. Its purpose, like that of other pieces of IP legislation, is to protect copyright owners while promoting creativity and the orderly exchange of ideas.
What is a copyright?
In the simplest terms, "copyright" means "the right to copy." In general, copyright means the sole right to produce or reproduce a work (or a substantial part of it) in any form. It includes the right to perform the work or any substantial part of it, or in the case of a lecture, to deliver it. If the work is unpublished, it includes the right to publish it or any substantial part of it.
Copyright means the sole right to produce or reproduce a work (or a substantial part of it) in any form.
People occasionally confuse copyrights with patents, trade-marks, industrial designs and integrated circuit topographies. Like copyrights, these are rights granted for intellectual creativity and are forms of IP:
However:
- Copyrights provide protection for literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works (including computer programs) and three other subject matter known as: performances, sound recordings and communication signals.
- Patents cover new inventions (process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter) or any new and useful improvement to an existing invention.
- Trade-marks are words, symbols or designs (or any combination of these) used to distinguish the wares or services of one person or organization from those of others in the marketplace.
- Industrial designs are the visual features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament (or any combination of these) applied to a manufactured article.
- Integrated circuit topographies refer to the three-dimensional configuration of electronic circuits embodied in integrated circuit products or layout designs.
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