A Guide to Copyrights (Page 2 of 10)
A Guide to Copyrights (PDF - 2.2 MB - 27 pages)
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What can you copyright?
Copyright applies to all original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. Each of these general categories covers a wide range of creations, including:
- literary works: books, pamphlets, poems, other works consisting of text and computer programs;
- dramatic works: films, videos/DVDs, plays, screenplays and scripts;
- musical works: compositions that consist of both words and music, or music only (note that lyrics without music fall into the literary works category); and
- artistic works: paintings, drawings, maps, photographs, sculptures and architectural works.
As of September 1, 1997, the Copyright Act contained provisions for neighbouring rights, consisting of copyright protection for three categories of works that fall under "other subject matter":
- performer's performances: performers such as actors, musicians, dancers and singers have copyrights in their performances;
- sound recordings: makers of recordings, such as records, cassettes, and compact discs (referred to as "sound recordings" in the Copyright Act), are also protected by copyright; and
- communication signals: broadcasters have copyrights in the communication signals that are broadcast.
Separate copyrights may exist within one work. For example, a musical work may consist of the song and the device that contains the song (e.g., a compact disc, etc.); in this instance, the song and the device are considered two different works and may be protected by copyright as a musical work and sound recording respectively. In addition, the live performance of this song by an artist may also be captured and registered separately as a performer's performance.
What can you copyright?
Yes
- a song
- a novel
- a play
- a magazine article
- a computer program
No
- a title for a song
- the idea for a plot
- a method of staging a play
- Hamlet (a work in the public domain)
- the facts in an article
- the name of a computer program
What can't you copyright?
The following cannot be copyrighted:
- titles and short word combinations;
- ideas: copyright is restricted to the expression in a fixed manner (e.g., text, recording, drawing, etc.) of an idea, not the idea itself;
- names or slogans;
- methods (e.g., a method of teaching or sculpting, etc.);
- plots or characters; and
- factual information: facts, ideas and news are all considered part of the public domain, that is, they are everyone's property, and one cannot hold copyright in them; although for layout, adaptations and translations of factual information, for example, it is the expression of the information that is protected and not the facts.