Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42)

RELATED PROVISIONS

• — R.S., 1985, c. 10 (4th Supp.), ss. 23 to 26

  • Application re moral rights

    • 23 (1) The rights referred to in section 14.1 of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 4, subsist in respect of a work even if the work was created before the coming into force of section 4.

    • Restriction

      (2) A remedy referred to in subsection 34(1.1) of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 8, may only be obtained where the infringement of the moral rights of the author occurs after the coming into force of section 8.

    • Idem

      (3) Notwithstanding subsection (1) and the repeal by section 3 of subsection 14(4) of the Copyright Act, the rights referred to in section 14.1 of that Act, as enacted by section 4, are not enforceable against

      • (a) a person who, on the coming into force of this section, is the owner of the copyright in, or holds a licence in relation to, a work, or

      • (b) a person authorized by a person described in paragraph (a) to do an act mentioned in section 3 of that Act,

      in respect of any thing done during the period for which the person described in paragraph (a) is the owner or for which the licence is in force, and the rights referred to in subsection 14(4) of that Act continue to be enforceable against a person described in paragraph (a) or (b) during that period as if subsection 14(4) of that Act were not repealed.

• — R.S., 1985, c. 10 (4th Supp.), ss. 23 to 26

  • Application re computer programs

    24 Subsection 1(2), the definition computer program in subsection 1(3) and section 5 apply in respect of a computer program that was made prior to the day on which those provisions come into force but where, by virtue only of subsections 1(2) and (3) and this section, copyright subsists in a computer program that was made prior to May 27, 1987, nothing done in respect of the computer program before May 27, 1987 shall be construed to constitute an infringement of the copyright.

• — R.S., 1985, c. 10 (4th Supp.), ss. 23 to 26

  • Making of records, perforated rolls, etc.

    25 It shall be deemed not to be an infringement of copyright in any musical, literary or dramatic work for any person to make within Canada during the six months following the coming into force of section 7 records, perforated rolls or other contrivances by means of which sounds may be reproduced and by means of which the work may be mechanically performed, if the person proves

    • (a) that before the coming into force of section 7, the person made such contrivances in respect of that work in accordance with section 29 or 30 of the Copyright Act and any regulation made under section 33 of that Act, as they read immediately before the coming into force of section 7; and

    • (b) that the making would, had it occurred before the coming into force of section 7, have been deemed not to have been an infringement of copyright by section 29 or 30 of the Copyright Act, as it read immediately before the coming into force of section 7.

• — R.S., 1985, c. 10 (4th Supp.), ss. 23 to 26

  • Infringements before coming into force

    26 Subsection 64(1) and section 64.1 of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 11, apply in respect of any alleged infringement of copyright occurring prior to, on or after the day on which section 11 comes into force.

• — 1993, c. 44, ss. 60(2), (3)

  • • Application of amendments to s. 10

       (2) Subject to subsection 75(2) of this Act, section 10 of the Copyright Act, as enacted by subsection (1) of this section, applies to all photographs, whether made before or after the coming into force of this section.

• — 1993, c. 44, ss. 60(2), (3)

  • • Application of amendments to s. 11

       (3) Except as provided by section 75 of this Act,

      • (a) section 11 of the Copyright Act, as enacted by subsection (1) of this section, applies only in respect of contrivances made after the coming into force of this section; and

      • (b) section 11 of the Copyright Act, as it read immediately before the coming into force of this section, continues to apply in respect of contrivances made before the coming into force of this section.

• — 1993, c. 44, ss. 75 to 77

  • Application of certain amendments

    • 75 (1) Subject to subsection (2), amendments to the Copyright Act made by this Act relating to the term of copyright apply in respect of all works, whether made before or after the coming into force of this section.

    • Idem

      (2) Where the term of the copyright in a work expires before the coming into force of this section, nothing in this Act shall be construed as extending or reviving that term.

• — 1993, c. 44, ss. 75 to 77

  • Cinematographs

    • 76 (1) Except as provided by subsection (2) of this section, the Copyright Act, as amended by this Act, applies in respect of all cinematographs, whether made before or after the coming into force of this section, subject to subsection 75(2) of this Act.

    • Idem

      (2) Section 10 of the Copyright Act, as that section read immediately before the coming into force of this section and in so far as it governs who is the author of a photograph, continues to apply in respect of all cinematographs made before the coming into force of this section that were, before the coming into force of this section, protected as photographs.

• — 1993, c. 44, ss. 75 to 77

  • Application of section 5

    77 Nothing in section 5 of the Copyright Act, as amended by this Act, confers copyright on works made before the coming into force of this section that did not qualify for copyright under section 5 of the Copyright Act as it read immediately before the coming into force of this section.

• — 1997, c. 24, s. 18(2)

  • •  (2) Section 30 of the Act, as enacted by subsection (1) of this section, does not apply in respect of collections referred to in section 30 that are published before the coming into force of section 30. Such collections continue to be governed by paragraph 27(2)(d) of the Act as it read before the coming into force of section 15 of this Act.

• — 1997, c. 24, s. 20(4)

  • •  (4) Section 39.1 of the Copyright Act, as enacted by subsection (1) of this section, applies in respect of

      • (a) proceedings commenced but not concluded before the coming into force of subsection (1) of this section; and

      • (b) proceedings commenced after the coming into force of subsection (1) of this section.

• — 1997, c. 24, ss. 54 to 58.1

  • 54 For greater certainty, all notices published under subsection 5(2) of the Copyright Act before the coming into force of this section are deemed to have been validly made and to have had force and effect in accordance with their terms.

• — 1997, c. 24, ss. 54 to 58.1

  • 54.1 Section 6 of the Copyright Act applies to a photograph in which copyright subsists on the date of the coming into force of this section, if the author is

    • (a) a natural person who is the author of the photograph referred to in subsection 10(2) of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 7 of this Act; or

    • (b) the natural person referred to in subsection 10(1.1) of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 7 of this Act.

• — 1997, c. 24, ss. 54 to 58.1

  • • 55 (1) Part II of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 14 of this Act, shall be construed as a replacement for subsections 5(3) to (6) and section 11 of the Copyright Act as those provisions read immediately before the coming into force of subsection 5(3) and section 8, respectively, of this Act.

    • (2) The rights conferred by Part II of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 14 of this Act, shall not be construed as diminishing the rights conferred by subsections 5(3) to (6) and section 11 of the Copyright Act as those provisions read immediately before the coming into force of subsection 5(3) and section 8, respectively, of this Act, in relation to records, perforated rolls and other contrivances by means of which sounds may be mechanically reproduced that were made before the coming into force of subsection 5(3) and section 8, respectively, of this Act.

    • (3) Where an assignment of copyright or a grant of any interest therein

      • (a) was made before the coming into force of Part II of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 14 of this Act, and

      • (b) was made by the maker of a sound recording who was a natural person,

      subsections 14(1) and (2) of the Copyright Act continue to apply in respect of that assignment or grant, with such modifications as the circumstances require, as if the sound recording was the work referred to in those subsections and the maker of the sound recording was its author.

• — 1997, c. 24, ss. 54 to 58.1

  • 56 Nothing in this Act shall be construed as diminishing the right conferred by section 14.01 of the Copyright Act as that section read immediately before the coming into force of section 12 of this Act.

• — 1997, c. 24, ss. 54 to 58.1

  • 57 For greater certainty, the amendments to the Copyright Act that eliminate references to “British subject” and “Her Majesty’s Realms and Territories” do not affect any copyright or moral rights that subsisted in Canada immediately before the coming into force of those amendments.

• — 1997, c. 24, ss. 54 to 58.1

  • 58 Nothing in this Act shall be construed as reviving a copyright that expired before the coming into force of this section.

• — 1997, c. 24, ss. 54 to 58.1

  • 58.1 No agreement concluded before April 25, 1996 that assigns a right or grants an interest by licence in a right that would be a copyright or a right to remuneration under this Act shall be construed as assigning or granting any rights conferred for the first time by this Act, unless the agreement specifically provides for the assignment or grant.

• — 1997, c. 24, ss. 62, 63

  • Coming into force

    • 62 (1) The following provisions come into force or are deemed to have come into force on June 30, 1996:

      • (a) the definitions exclusive distributor, educational institution and library, archive or museum in section 2 of the Copyright Act, as enacted by subsection 1(5) of this Act;

      • (b) section 2.6 of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 2 of this Act;

      • (c) section 27.1 of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 15 of this Act; and

      • (d) section 45 of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 28 of this Act.

    • (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the definition exclusive distributor referred to in paragraph (1)(a) shall be read as follows during the period beginning on June 30, 1996 and ending on the day that is sixty days after the day on which this Act is assented to:

      exclusive distributor

      exclusive distributor means, in relation to a book, a person who has, before or after the coming into force of this definition, been appointed in writing, by the owner or exclusive licensee of the copyright in the book in Canada, as

      • (a) the only distributor of the book in Canada or any part of Canada, or

      • (b) the only distributor of the book in Canada or any part of Canada in respect of a particular sector of the market. (distributeur exclusif)

    • (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(d), paragraph 45(1)(e) of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 28 of this Act, shall be read as follows for the period beginning on June 30, 1996 and ending on the day that is sixty days after the day on which this Act is assented to:

      • (e) to import copies, made with the consent of the owner of the copyright in the country where they were made, of any used books.

• — 1997, c. 24, ss. 62, 63

  • • 63 (1) No exclusive distributor, within the meaning assigned to that expression by subsection 62(2) of this Act, copyright owner or exclusive licensee is entitled to a remedy referred to in the Copyright Act in relation to an infringement referred to in subsection 27.1(1) or (2) of that Act, as enacted by section 15 of this Act, during the period beginning on June 30, 1996 and ending on the day on which this Act is assented to, unless

      • (a) before the infringement occurred, notice in writing has been given to the person referred to in subsection 27.1(1) or (2) of that Act, as enacted by section 15 of this Act, as the case may be, that

        • (i) there is an exclusive distributor of the book in Canada, and

        • (ii) section 27.1 of that Act came into force or was deemed to have come into force on June 30, 1996; and

      • (b) in the case of an infringement referred to in section 27.1 of that Act, as enacted by section 15 of this Act, the remedy is only in relation to a book that was imported during that period and forms part of the inventory of the person referred to in section 27.1 of that Act on the day on which this Act is assented to.

    • (2) No exclusive distributor, copyright owner or exclusive licensee is entitled to a remedy referred to in subsection (1) against an educational institution, library, archive or museum.

    • (3) For greater certainty, the expiration of the period referred to in subsection 62(2) of this Act does not affect the right of an exclusive distributor to continue, after the expiration of that period, legal proceedings validly commenced during that period.

• — 2004, c. 11, s. 21(4)

  • Application

    • 21 (4) Subsection (1) applies in respect of unpublished works deposited in an archive on or before September 1, 1999 or at any time after that date.

• — 2012, c. 20, s. 59

  • No revival of copyright in photograph

    • 59 (1) The repeal of section 10 of the Copyright Act by section 6 does not have the effect of reviving copyright in any photograph in which, on the coming into force of that section 6, copyright had expired.

    • Cases where corporations were deemed to be authors

      (2) In any case in which, immediately before the coming into force of section 6, a corporation is deemed, by virtue of subsection 10(2) of the Copyright Act as it read before the coming into force of that section 6, to be the author of a photograph in which copyright subsists at that time, the copyright in that photograph continues to subsist for the term determined in accordance with sections 6, 6.1, 6.2, 9, 11.1 or 12 of the Copyright Act as if its author were the individual who would have been considered the author of the photograph apart from that subsection 10(2).

    • Cases where individuals were deemed to be authors

      (3) In any case in which an individual is deemed to be the author of a photograph, by virtue of subsection 10(2) of the Copyright Act as it read before the coming into force of section 6, the individual continues, after the coming into force of that section 6, to be the author of that photograph for the purposes of the Copyright Act.

• — 2012, c. 20, s. 60

  • Engraving, photograph or portrait

    60 Subsection 13(2) of the Copyright Act, as it read immediately before the coming into force of section 7, continues to apply with respect to any engraving, photograph or portrait the plate or original of which was commissioned before the coming into force of that section 7.

• — 2012, c. 20, s. 61

  • No revival of copyright

    61 Subsections 23(1) to (2) of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 17, do not have the effect of reviving the copyright, or a right to remuneration, in any performer’s performance or sound recording in which the copyright or the right to remuneration had expired on the coming into force of those subsections.

• — 2012, c. 20, s. 62

  • Limitation or prescription period

    • 62 (1) Subsection 43.1(1) of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 49, applies only to proceedings with respect to an act or omission that occurred after the coming into force of that section.

    • Former limitation or prescription period continued

      (2) Subsection 41(1) of the Copyright Act, as it read immediately before the coming into force of section 47, applies to proceedings with respect to an infringement that occurred before the coming into force of that section.

• — 2015, c. 36, s. 82

  • No revival of copyright

    82 Paragraph 23(1)(b) and subsection 23(1.1) of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 81, do not have the effect of reviving the copyright, or a right to remuneration, in a sound recording or performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording in which the copyright or the right to remuneration had expired on the coming into force of those provisions.

• — 2018, c. 27, s. 299

  • Paragraphs 66.501(a) and (b)

    299 The Copyright Board is not required to consider the criteria set out in paragraphs 66.501(a) and (b) of the Copyright Act, as enacted by section 292 of this Act, in a matter in which it fixes royalty rates, levies or any related terms and conditions if the matter is commenced before the day on which this section comes into force.

• — 2018, c. 27, s. 300

  • Subsections 68.1(2) and 83(4)

    300 Neither subsection 68.1(2) nor subsection 83(4) of the Copyright Act, as enacted by sections 296 and 297 of this Act, respectively, applies with respect to a proposed tariff filed before the day on which this section comes into force.

• — 2018, c. 27, s. 301

  • Subsection 67.1(4)

    301 Subsection 67.1(4) of the Copyright Act, as it read immediately before the day on which this section comes into force, continues to apply with respect to

    • (a) an infringement referred to in that subsection that occurred before that day; and

    • (b) the recovery of royalties to be paid under section 19 of that Act in relation to an act that occurred before that day.

• — 2020, c. 1, s. 34

  • No revival of copyright

    34 Sections 6.1, 6.2 and 11.1, paragraphs 23(1)(a) and (b) and subsection 23(1.1) of the Copyright Act, as enacted by sections 24, 26 and 29, respectively, do not have the effect of reviving the copyright or a right to remuneration in any work, performer’s performance fixed in a sound recording or sound recording in which the copyright or the right to remuneration had expired on the coming into force of those provisions of that Act.

• — 2022, c. 10, s. 280

  • No revival of copyright

    280 Section 6, subsections 6.2(2) and 7(1) and (3) and section 9 of the Copyright Act, as enacted by sections 276 to 279, do not have the effect of reviving the copyright in any work in which the copyright had expired before the day on which sections 276 to 279 come into force.