Copyrights in Canada
A copyright is a piece of intellectual property and gives the lone right to produce or reproduce a work or any significant part of it. It applies to any original work and protects the creator/artist from having other people recreate their work.
Copyright law is set out in the Copyright Act, originally produced in 1921. Its purpose is “to protect copyright owners while promoting creativity and the orderly exchange of ideas”.
Depending on the type of work, each copyright comes with its own set of rights and protections. Common rights include the right to publish, the right to perform, the right to produce a translation, and the right to rent or distribute. There are also moral rights, which is the author’s right to be associated (or not) with the work.