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Copyright law consists of the Copyright Act, its regulations, and relevant decisions of the courts.

Copyright law balances two competing goals. On the one hand, it encourages the creation, dissemination and use of works; on the other, it allows creators and other rights holders to be fairly rewarded for the uses of their works.

• It protects rights of creators and other rights holders by providing exclusive rights to do certain things with their works, and by specifying penalties for infringement of those rights.
• It encourages dissemination and use of works by providing certain users' rights, and by limiting how long copyright lasts.

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If a work is being reproduced, published, communicated, exhibited, etc. in Canada, Canadian law applies, regardless of the nationality or residence of the creator of the work.

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Copyright law applies to digital formats and the Internet just as it does to analogue formats. Although much of the Copyright Act was written before anyone thought of the Internet, the Act is sufficiently flexible to accommodate new technologies. Courts have interpreted the Act to apply to situations in the digital environment, thus providing precedents that clarify the application of copyright to digital media.

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No. Ownership of the physical object is different from the ownership of the copyright in the object. Owning the physical object does not entitle you to copy it, publish it, or post it on the Internet without the permission of the copyright owner.

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Copyright protects a wide range of materials, including books, films, diaries, sheet music, letters, sound recordings, photos, maps, and a host of other items found in the holdings of archives, libraries, historical societies, museums and other cultural heritage and community organizations. The Copyright Act divides protected material into two broad categories: "works" and "other subject matter." Different copyright rules apply to each category.

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Copyright protects all original (i.e., not copied from someone else) literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works.

• Literary works include books, letters, newspapers, diaries, poems, and other works consisting mainly of text.
• Artistic works include photographs, maps, plans, paintings, sketches, drawings, sculpture, and architectural works.
• Dramatic works include plays, scripts, screenplays, films, and videos.
• Musical works include sheet music, and other works of musical composition, with or without words.

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Generally speaking, the author or creator of a work is the first owner of the copyright, but the copyright owner may also be the author’s employer (if the work was made in the course of employment). Special rules determine the ownership of copyright in photos.

Copyright can also change hands; the author can agree to transfer the copyright in a work to someone else.

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The copyright owner has the exclusive right to do certain things with a work. Among these rights are:

• the right to copy it (by scanning, microfilming, photocopying, or copying by hand)
• the right to publish it for the first time (publishing means making copies of a work available to the public)
• the right to communicate it to the public (by radio or TV broadcasting or on the Internet)
• the right to exhibit an artistic work (other than a map or plan) in public
• the right to translate it into another language
• the right to authorize others to do any of these things

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Generally speaking, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus 50 years; however, different rules apply to certain types of material. Consult the sources below for details. Once the copyright protection has expired, the work enters the public domain, and can be used by anyone without the rights holder’s permission.

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Moral rights protect the reputation of the author (or creator) and the integrity of the work. Moral rights always belong to the author. Unless the author has waived his or her moral rights, moral rights include the right to:

• prevent any modification of a work which damages the author’s honour or reputation (You need to consider moral rights when manipulating digital images).
• prevent the use of the work in association with a product, cause, or institution in a way that damages the author’s honour or reputation.
• require that the author’s name is associated with the work as its author.

Moral rights last for the same length of time as the copyright.

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Works consisting of several distinct works, e.g., a newspaper or a scrapbook, are known as compilations. Compilations have two (or more) levels of copyright. The entire newspaper or scrapbook is protected by copyright. Each of the works that makes up the newspaper or scrapbook is also protected by copyright (unless the copyright in it has expired).

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Copyright also applies to three categories of "other subject matter":

• Sound recordings are fixations of sounds, including songs, speeches, ceremonies, oral history interviews, street noises, or birdsong.
• Performers’ performances are performances by actors, singers, musicians, or dancers.
• Communication signals are the radio or television signals that are broadcast.

Copyright in these categories is often very complicated because a number of copyright interests are involved. For example, e.g., a recording of someone singing a song will contain the song (a musical work) and the performances of the singer and musicians. Permissions must be obtained for all of these components of the sound recording as well as for the sound recording itself.

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• The maker (the person that made the arrangements for the first fixation of the sounds) is the first owner of the copyright in a sound recording.
• The performer is the first owner of the copyright in a performer’s performance.
• The broadcaster is the first owner of the copyright in a communication signal.

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• Sound recordings: 50 years from the first fixation of the sounds.
• Performer's performances: 50 years from the fixation of the performance.
• Communication signals: 50 years from the fixation of the broadcast.

Items in these categories often contain underlying works whose copyright may expire later than the copyright in "other subject matter." For example, a recording of someone singing a song will contain the song (a musical work) and the performances of the singer and musicians. While the copyright may have expired in the sound recording and the performances, copyright may still exist in the song.

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• Items in which your institution owns the copyright (either because it was created by the employees in your institution, or because the copyright was granted to your institution by the copyright owner)
• Items in which the copyright has expired
• Items for which you have the permission of the rights holder(s)

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Your institution is responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions from rights holders.

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• Determine who owns the copyright to the material you are using.Check the item for copyright information, or start with an Internet search of the creator's name.
• Contact the copyright owner, and describe the material you wish to use and how it will be used (e.g., published in a newsletter, or scanned into digital form and posted on a website).
• Alternatively, contact a copyright collective. Copyright collectives are organizations that administer rights on behalf of groups of rights holders. Each collective has a specific mandate to administer particular rights in particular types of material. Check the Copyright Board website at www.cb-cda.gc.ca/societies-societes/index-e.html for a list of the Canadian collectives and their mandates.
• Be prepared for costs and/or conditions. Some rights holders require payment of a fee. Others may require that statements identifying the rights holder(s) and the fact that permission was obtained be posted with the material.
• Keep records. Retain your correspondence as evidence that you are not infringing copyright, or that you made reasonable efforts to obtain permission (if you cannot locate the rights holder(s) or they do not respond).

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Assess the risk of using the work without permission.

• What will you do if the rights holder comes forward?
• What demands might the rights holder make?
• How will your institution deal with these possibilities?
• What might be the consequences for your institution?

Depending on the answers to these questions, you may decide not to use the item, or, if possible, substitute another.

Copyright seems awfully complicated. How do I sort out the copyright in a document we want to put on our website?

The following chart outlines a systematic way of analyzing a copyright situation.

The following table provides the general rules for copyright in the following types of material: 

• Published Textual Material
• Unpublished Textual Material
• Maps and Plans
• Photos
• Films/Videos
• Sound Recordings
   

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Online

Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)
This website http://cipo.gc.ca includes the booklet, A Guide to Copyrights (Ottawa: Industry Canada, 2000), and a series of circulars on particular aspects of copyright.

Copyright Board
This website www.cb-cda.gc.ca/societies-societes/index-e.html includes a list of copyright collectives and their mandates, as well as links to copyright organizations.
The Copyright Act is available at http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-42/index.html.

Print

Jean Dryden, Demystifying Copyright: A Researcher's Guide to Copyright in Canadian Libraries and Archives (Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 2001). Can be purchased at www.cla.ca.
Lesley Ellen Harris, Canadian Copyright Law, 3rd ed. (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2000).

Wanda Noel, Copyright Guide for Canadian Libraries (Ottawa: Canadian Library Association and ASTED, 1999). Can be purchased at www.cla.ca.

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