Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42)

Term of Copyright

Marginal note:Term of copyright

6 Except as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, the term for which copyright subsists is the life of the author, the remainder of the calendar year in which the author dies, and a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year.

Marginal note:Anonymous and pseudonymous works

• 6.1 (1) Except as provided in section 6.2 and in subsection (2), where the identity of the author of a work is unknown, copyright in the work shall subsist until the end of 75 years following the end of the calendar year in which the work is made. However, if the work is published before the copyright expires, the copyright continues until the earlier of the end of 75 years following the end of the calendar year in which the first publication occurs and 100 years following the end of the calendar year in which the work was made.

• Marginal note:Identity of author commonly known

  (2) Where, during any term referred to in subsection (1), the author’s identity becomes commonly known, the term provided in section 6 applies.

Marginal note:Anonymous and pseudonymous works of joint authorship

• 6.2 (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), where the identity of all the authors of a work of joint authorship is unknown, copyright in the work shall subsist until the end of 75 years following the end of the calendar year in which the work is made. However, if the work is published before the copyright expires, the copyright continues until the earlier of the end of 75 years following the end of the calendar year in which the first publication occurs and 100 years following the end of the calendar year in which the work was made.

• Marginal note:Identity of author commonly known

  (2) If, during any term referred to in subsection (1), the identity of one or more of the authors becomes commonly known, copyright subsists for the life of whichever of those authors dies last, the remainder of the calendar year in which that author dies and a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year.

Marginal note:Term of copyright in certain posthumous works

• 7 (1) Subject to subsection (2), in the case of a literary, dramatic or musical work, or an engraving, in which copyright subsists at the date of the death of the author — or, in the case of a work of joint authorship, at or immediately before the date of the death of the author who dies last — but which has not been published or, in the case of a lecture or a dramatic or musical work, been performed in public or communicated to the public by telecommunication, before that date, copyright subsists for the longer of

  • (a) the period until publication, or performance in public or communication to the public by telecommunication, whichever may first happen, as well as the remainder of the calendar year of the publication or of the performance in public or communication to the public by telecommunication, as the case may be, and for a period of 50 years following the end of that calendar year, and

  • (b) the life of the author — or, in the case of a work of joint authorship, the life of the author who dies last — as well as the remainder of the calendar year in which that author dies and a period of 70 years following the end of the calendar year in which that author dies.

• Marginal note:Application of subsection (1)

  (2) Subsection (1) applies only if the work in question was published or performed in public or communicated to the public by telecommunication, as the case may be, before December 31, 1998.

• Marginal note:Transitional provision

  (3) If a work was not published or performed in public or communicated to the public by telecommunication before December 31, 1998, if subsection (1) would apply to that work had it been published or performed in public or communicated to the public by telecommunication before that day, and if the relevant death referred to in subsection (1) occurred during the period of 50 years immediately before that day, copyright subsists in the work, whether or not the work is published or performed in public or communicated to the public by telecommunication on or after that day,

  • (a) until December 31, 2048; or

  • (b) for the life of the author — or, in the case of a work of joint authorship, the life of the author who dies last — as well as the remainder of the calendar year in which that author dies and a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year, if that period ends after December 31, 2048.

8 [Repealed, 1993, c. 44, s. 59]

Marginal note:Cases of joint authorship

9 In the case of a work of joint authorship, except as provided in section 6.2 or subsection 7(1) or (3), copyright subsists during the life of the author who dies last, for the remainder of the calendar year in which that author dies, and for a period of 70 years following the end of that calendar year, and references in this Act to the period after the expiration of any specified number of years from the end of the calendar year of the death of the author shall be construed as references to the period after the expiration of the like number of years from the end of the calendar year of the death of the author who dies last.

10 [Repealed, 2012, c. 20, s. 6]

11 [Repealed, 1997, c. 24, s. 8]

Marginal note:Cinematographic works

11.1 Except for cinematographic works in which the arrangement or acting form or the combination of incidents represented give the work a dramatic character, copyright in a cinematographic work or a compilation of cinematographic works shall subsist until the end of 70 years following the end of the calendar year in which the cinematographic work or the compilation is made. However, if the cinematographic work or the compilation is published before the copyright expires, the copyright continues until the earlier of the end of 75 years following the end of the calendar year in which the first publication occurs and 100 years following the end of the calendar year in which the cinematographic work or the compilation was made.

Marginal note:Where copyright belongs to Her Majesty

12 Without prejudice to any rights or privileges of the Crown, where any work is, or has been, prepared or published by or under the direction or control of Her Majesty or any government department, the copyright in the work shall, subject to any agreement with the author, belong to Her Majesty and in that case shall continue for the remainder of the calendar year of the first publication of the work and for a period of fifty years following the end of that calendar year.

Ownership of Copyright

Marginal note:Ownership of copyright

• 13 (1) Subject to this Act, the author of a work shall be the first owner of the copyright therein.

• (2) [Repealed, 2012, c. 20, s. 7]

• Marginal note:Work made in the course of employment

  (3) Where the author of a work was in the employment of some other person under a contract of service or apprenticeship and the work was made in the course of his employment by that person, the person by whom the author was employed shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright, but where the work is an article or other contribution to a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, there shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be deemed to be reserved to the author a right to restrain the publication of the work, otherwise than as part of a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical.

• Marginal note:Assignments and licences

  (4) The owner of the copyright in any work may assign the right, either wholly or partially, and either generally or subject to limitations relating to territory, medium or sector of the market or other limitations relating to the scope of the assignment, and either for the whole term of the copyright or for any other part thereof, and may grant any interest in the right by licence, but no assignment or grant is valid unless it is in writing signed by the owner of the right in respect of which the assignment or grant is made, or by the owner’s duly authorized agent.

• Marginal note:Ownership in case of partial assignment

  (5) Where, under any partial assignment of copyright, the assignee becomes entitled to any right comprised in copyright, the assignee, with respect to the rights so assigned, and the assignor, with respect to the rights not assigned, shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as the owner of the copyright, and this Act has effect accordingly.

• Marginal note:Assignment of right of action

  (6) For greater certainty, it is deemed always to have been the law that a right of action for infringement of copyright may be assigned in association with the assignment of the copyright or the grant of an interest in the copyright by licence.

• Marginal note:Exclusive licence

  (7) For greater certainty, it is deemed always to have been the law that a grant of an exclusive licence in a copyright constitutes the grant of an interest in the copyright by licence.

Marginal note:Limitation where author is first owner of copyright

• 14 (1) Where the author of a work is the first owner of the copyright therein, no assignment of the copyright and no grant of any interest therein, made by him, otherwise than by will, after June 4, 1921, is operative to vest in the assignee or grantee any rights with respect to the copyright in the work beyond the expiration of twenty-five years from the death of the author, and the reversionary interest in the copyright expectant on the termination of that period shall, on the death of the author, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, devolve on his legal representatives as part of the estate of the author, and any agreement entered into by the author as to the disposition of such reversionary interest is void.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed as applying to the assignment of the copyright in a collective work or a licence to publish a work or part of a work as part of a collective work.

• (3) [Repealed, 1997, c. 24, s. 11]

• (4) [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 10 (4th Supp.), s. 3]

14.01 [Repealed, 1997, c. 24, s. 12]

Moral Rights

Marginal note:Moral rights

• 14.1 (1) The author of a work has, subject to section 28.2, the right to the integrity of the work and, in connection with an act mentioned in section 3, the right, where reasonable in the circumstances, to be associated with the work as its author by name or under a pseudonym and the right to remain anonymous.

• Marginal note:No assignment of moral rights

  (2) Moral rights may not be assigned but may be waived in whole or in part.

• Marginal note:No waiver by assignment

  (3) An assignment of copyright in a work does not by that act alone constitute a waiver of any moral rights.

• Marginal note:Effect of waiver

  (4) Where a waiver of any moral right is made in favour of an owner or a licensee of copyright, it may be invoked by any person authorized by the owner or licensee to use the work, unless there is an indication to the contrary in the waiver.

Marginal note:Term

• 14.2 (1) Moral rights in respect of a work subsist for the same term as the copyright in the work.

• Marginal note:Succession

  (2) The moral rights in respect of a work pass, on the death of its author, to

  • (a) the person to whom those rights are specifically bequeathed;

  • (b) where there is no specific bequest of those moral rights and the author dies testate in respect of the copyright in the work, the person to whom that copyright is bequeathed; or

  • (c) where there is no person described in paragraph (a) or (b), the person entitled to any other property in respect of which the author dies intestate.

• Marginal note:Subsequent succession

  (3) Subsection (2) applies, with such modifications as the circumstances require, on the death of any person who holds moral rights.