A Guide to Copyrights (Page 3 of 10)

A Guide to Copyrights (PDF - 2.2 MB - 27 pages)

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Who can apply for registration?

Automatic protection for Canadian and foreign works

When you create a work or other subject matter protected by copyright, you will automatically have copyright protection provided that, at the time of creation, you were:

  • a Canadian citizen or a person ordinarily resident in Canada;
  • a citizen or subject of, or a person ordinarily residing in, a Berne Convention country, a Universal Copyright Convention country, a Rome Convention country (for sound recordings, performer's performances and communication signals only), or a country that is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO); or
  • a citizen or subject of, or a person ordinarily resident in any country to which the Minister has extended protection by notice in the Canada Gazette.

In some cases, you would also obtain automatic copyright if your work was first published in one of the countries included among the above-mentioned conventions or a country that is member of the WTO, even if you were not a citizen or subject of Canada, or of one of those countries.

Sound recordings themselves are protected internationally under the Rome Convention and under other copyright treaties, but there is quite a variation internationally as to the nature of the protection given to sound recordings. In Canada, sound recordings have a broad range of protection under the Copyright Act.

Benefits of registration

Although you don't have to register your copyright to have protection in Canada, a certificate of registration is evidence that your work is protected by copyright and that you, the person registered, are the owner.

Registration, however, is no guarantee against infringement. The Copyright Office is not responsible for policing, or checking on registered works and their use, and will not guarantee that the legitimacy of ownership or originality in a work will never be questioned.

How long do copyrights last?

General rule

The general rule is that copyright lasts for the life of the author, the remainder of the calendar year in which the author dies, and for 50 years following the end of that calendar year. Therefore, protection will expire on December 31 of the 50th year after the author dies. After that, the work becomes part of the public domain and anyone can use it.

Some exceptions to the general rule are discussed below. Note that these exceptions are not all encompassing, and any issues where clarification of ownership is required should be resolved with the help of legal professionals.

Works listed under "Other Subject Matter"

  • Performer's performances: copyright lasts for 50 years after the end of the calendar year in which the performance is first fixed or, if it is not fixed, 50 years after it is performed.
  • Sound recordings: copyright lasts for 50 years after the end of the calendar year of the first fixation of the sound recording.
  • Communication signals: copyright lasts for 50 years after the end of the calendar year in which the signal was broadcast.

Works of Crown copyright

These government publications are created for (or published by) the Crown. Copyright in these works lasts for the remainder of the calendar year in which the work was first published, and for 50 years after that. Copyright is perpetual until the work is published.

Joint authorship

In the case of a work that has more than one author, the term will be the date the last author dies plus 50 years following the end of that calendar year.

Unknown author

In the case of a work where the identity of the author is unknown, copyright consists of whichever is the earlier of:

  1. the remainder of the calendar year of the first publication of the work plus 50 years; or
  2. the remainder of the calendar year of the making of the work plus 75 years.

Posthumous works

These are works that have not been published, performed or delivered in public during the lifetime of the author.

If the work was created after July 25, 1997, the term of copyright protection is the life of the author, the remainder of the calendar year in which the author died, and for 50 years following.

If the work was created before July 25, 1997, three different scenarios can exist:

  1. The work of a deceased author that is published, performed or delivered prior to July 25, 1997, will retain copyright from the date of publication, plus 50 years, to the end of that calendar year.
  2. The unpublished work of an author who was deceased during the 50 years prior to July 25, 1997, retains copyright until December 31, 1997 (the remainder of the calendar year in which Bill C-32 came into force), plus 50 years following the end of that calendar year.
  3. The unpublished work of an author who deceased more than 50 years prior to July 25, 1997, retains copyright until December 31, 1997 (the remainder of the calendar year in which Bill C-32 came into force), plus five years following the end of that calendar year.

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