Canadian+Copyright+Act

=The Canadian Copyright Act: An Overview=

toc The Canadian Copyright Act contains number of exceptions to the exclusive rights of copyright owners. The Copyright Act provides that any fair dealing with works for purposes of private studies or research, criticism, review or news reporting is not infringement. The Copyright Act has exceptions for different categories of users. Critics, reviewers and researchers who often quote works by other authors are required to give the source and the author’s name. Non-profit educational institutions are permitted to make copies and perform works of copyrighted material free of charge in the classrooms with certain restrictions. Non-profit libraries, archives and museums can copy published and unpublished worked in order to maintain and manage their collections. There are many uses of copyrighted material that is not an infringement of copyright listed in the Copyright Act.

=**What is a copyright and what is covered by a copyright?**=

Copyright means "the right to copy." A Copyright allows only the owner of the copyright to make copies of the orginal work and anyone else who wants to use the copyrighted material must get permission from the copyright owner. Copyright applies to literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works. Each of these general categories covers a wide range of creations. Here are just a few examples:


 * Literary works: books, pamphlets, poems and other works consisting of text and computer programs
 * Dramatic works: films, videos, plays, screenplays and scripts
 * Musical works: compositions that consist of both words and music or music only.
 * Artistic works: paintings, drawings, maps, photographs, sculptures and architectural works.
 * Copyright also applies to three other kinds of subject matter in addition to the works listed above:
 * Performer's performance: performers such as actors, musicians, dancers and singers have copyrights in their performances.
 * Communication signals: broadcasters have copyrights in the communications' signals that are broadcast
 * Sound recordings: makers of recordings, such as records, cassettes, and compact discs.

Creators are entitled to certain moral rights which enable them to protect their intellectual property and prevent any distortion or manipulation of their works. Copyright also gives rights creators to reward them for their intellectual works and at the same time, encourage them to continue creating original works for the benefit of the society. Such a system is important because the works or intellectual property protected by copyright, unlike any other types of property, cannot be physically controlled. The new technology makes it easier to appropriate the works of others by copying (Erola, Fox 1). Since innovation is seen as the most important factor behind economic development. Without proper protection of the intellectual property, innovation will not likely take place or at least not at a considerable speed.

=Copyrights vs other intellectual property=

Copyrights are different then the other intellectual property rights. Some examples include, trademarks, patents, and industrial designs. Here are brief explanations of these other intellectual property rights:

Trademarks: to differentiate goods or services of one person or a company from another. These include slogans, names of products, distinctive packages or unique product shapes.

Patents: to protect new and useful inventions such as processes to a certain manufacturing of an invention, equipment, and manufacturing techniques. Patents do not cover any artistic characteristics of an article.

Industrial designs: protected for their original shape, pattern, ornamentation or configuration and applied to a finished manufactured article. For example, the shape of a table made by hand or machine may be an industrial design.

[|**Original Source**]

=**The Future of Digital Copyrights**=


 * Bill C-11**

On December 13, 2002. the Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps and Industry Minister Allan Rock disclosed the granting of Bill C-11, an Act to improve the Copyright Act to address the digitization age. Bill C-11 defines that, "retransmitters who use the Internet will not be able to hold a compulsory licence." This new bill now protects the interests of broadcasters and copyright holders in the digital age.[|Original Source]

=The Duration of the Copyright Act=

The Sony Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) that was introduced in 1998 extended the lives of many protected works by 20 years. All works published before the 1st of January 1978 had an increase in their renewal term from 47 years to 67 years. In addition works published after the spicified date enjoyed protection from the author's life to 70 years after his death, an increase from 50 years.

Copyrighted On-Line Work Digital Millennium Copyright Act Fair Use/Fair Dealing Copyright Infringement
 * Related Links**:

=Work Cited=

Judy Erola, Francis Fox. __A Guide to Canada’s Copyright__. Canada: Minister of Supply and Services Canada, 1984. Daniel A. Tysver. __Fair Use in Copyright__. 2005. Bitlaw. Feb 6, 2006. http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/fair_use.html#fair_use.