What is covered under copyright?
What does copyright apply to?
It applies to all cultural work: art, music, novels, plays, films, blogs, short stories, poetry, paintings, photos, dance, documentaries, non-fiction writing, radio broadcasts and podcasts, sculpture, journalism, stand-up comedy, screenplays, and so on.
*It doesn’t matter if it’s high art, low art, pop art, bad art or not art at all.
What doesn’t it apply to?
It doesn’t apply to compilations of information like phone directories or databases.
| Table of materials | Covered by | The Act |
|---|---|---|
| artistic work | -includes paintings, drawings, maps, charts, plans, photographs, engravings, sculptures, works of artistic craftsmanships, architectural craftsmanship, and compilations of artistic works | Copyright Act (R.S., 1985, c. C-42) S.2 |
| architectural work | – any building or structure or any model of a building or structure | |
| choreographic work | – includes any work of choreography, whether or not has any story line | |
| cinematographic work | – includes any work expressed by any process analogous to cinematography, whether or not accompanied by a soundtrack | |
| collective work | – (a)and encyclopedia, dictionary, yearbook ,or similar work ( b) newspaper, review, magazine, or similar periodical and (c) any work written in distinct parts by diferent authors, or in which works or parts of works of different authors are incorporated | |
| dramatic work | – Includes(a) any piece for recitation, choreographic work or mime, the scenic arrangement or an acting form of which is fixed in writting or otherwise, (b) any cinematographic work, and (c) any compilation of dramatic works | |
| engravings | – includes etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, prints, and other similar works, not being photographs | |
| lecture | – includes address, speech and sermon | |
| literary works | – includes tables, computer programs, and compilations of literary works | |
| musical work | – any work of music or musical composition, with or without words and includes any compilation thereof | |
| literary works | – includes tables, computer programs, and compilations of literary works | |
| performance | – any acoustic or visual representation of a work, performer’s performance, sound recording or communication signal, including representation made by means of any mechanical instrument, radio receiving set, or television receiving set | |
| photograph | – includes photo-lithograph, and any work expressed by any process analogous to photography | |
| literary works | – includes tables, computer programs, and compilations of literary works | |
| sculpture | – includes a cast or model |
What are the criteria that make a work copyrightable in Canada?
1. It must be original
2. It must be in some fixed or tangible form
3. It must fall under one of the four main groupings of works outlined in the Copyright Act
4. There must be a connection between the creator of the work and Canada
What does it mean that the work needs to be original?
Original does not just mean unique or one of a kind. It means particular to the creator or author of the work. So for a photo of the Eiffel Tower to be original, it doesn’t have to be the only photo of the Eiffel Tower, or different from everyone else’s but it has to be your photo of it. That means you have to take it: you can’t photograph or digitally scan someone else’s image and call it your own. Lots of people will have the same idea — to take a photo of the Eiffel Tower, for example — but each will express it differently, and each of those photos can be copyrighted.
Does copyright work the same way everywhere?
Every country has its own copyright act. There are subtle differences between countries, including in the length of the term of copyright.