As a legal writer, she publishes the IP Address blog (ipaddressblog.com), her personal blog on Canadian IP (selected by Osgoode Hall Law School's IP Osgoode blog as a Pick of the Week) Lorraine also is a regular contributor the Canadian Bar Association's quarterly IP case law summaries.
The following information is specific to current Canadian Copyright legislation.
What is Copyright?
The exclusive right to reproduce original content and stop others from reproducing that content.
- Means that you must get others permission to use their content unless your activity falls within an exception to infringement.
- Applies to the internet
- The law in Canada and the US can differ dramatically
- What does Copyright Protect?
- ORIGINAL literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works
How is Copyright Created?
- The original work is created by a Canadian citizen or citizen of a Bern Convention country.
- The work must come into physical existence; copyright does not exist in ideas.
- Best to register early; Canadian courts are skeptical of registrations obtained shortly before or during a lawsuit
How long does Copyright exist?
- Most works: life of the author + rest of the calendar year in which the author died + 50 years
- Joint Authors: terms last to the end of the 50th year after the last author dies
- Unknown author: Lesser of the end of the 50th year after publication or 75 years after the work was made
- Photographs: to the end of the 50th year from the making of the initial negative (or digital file)
- Movie: end of the 50th year from the first publication
- Sound recording: 50 years from the first recording
Who owns the Copyright?
- Usually the person who creates the copyright work, but there are exceptions.
- Photographs: The first person who owns the negative of the photo (not always the photographer)
- Employees: Employers are the first owner of the works created for the employer by the employee.
Who can use materials?
- The owner: Ownership can be transferred, but must be in writing. The ownership transfer agreement usually is called an assignment.
- Anyone who has permission ("license"): The terms of the license dictate what the licensee can do under the license. The fee paid under the license to the copyright owner (licensor) is a royalty.
“Be careful with royalty free content, each site has its own governing use”
What is Copyright infringement?
- The making of an unauthorized copy
- There must be a substantial portion of the material copied.
- No hard and fast rules as to what is substantial
- Test is quality, not quantity. Does the copy take enough of the work so to convey at least a portion of the value of the work?
- Primary: A copy is made without permission
- Secondary: The sale, rental or distribution or display or possession for that purpose, of an unauthorized copy provided the person in possession of the copy knows it was an infringing copy.
Exceptions
- Fair dealing (research/private study, criticism/review, news reporting)
- Note, parody is NOT currently an exception in Canada
The factors used to assess fair dealing:
- Purpose
- Character
- Amount
- Nature (of the work)
- Available alternatives
- Effect (of the dealing of the work)
- The authors right to:
- Retain the integrity of the work
- Not have his/hers work distorted
- Have his/her name associate or not associated with the work
- Activities must be shown to be the detriment of the authors honour/reputation
- Cannot be transferred, but can be waived
- Term is the same as copyright in the work
What does this mean to us?
Our Portfolio:
- Clear copyright on everything
- Get permission for everything
- Disable right clicks
- Copyright notices and website terms of use on your own site can be a deterrent
- Register copyright in commercially important works
- To discourage say: Copyright 2012, Do not use without permission, All rights reserved
Twitter and Wordpress
- You own your content
- Facebook owns everything, unless you delete, HOWEVER if you've shared with friends, it remains Facebooks
Perpetual, worldwide license to your content
