FAQs

Copyright law is a small category of the law, where the expertise of a copyright lawyer is highly recommended. In medicine, all doctors are technically qualified to help you. However, when you have a specific problem, you want and need to see a specialist. The same principle is applicable with Canadian copyright issues. In law, all lawyers went to law school to learn the law generally. However, copyright law is a sub-category of intellectual property law. In fact, intellectual property is in itself is a sub-category of the law. Therefore, not all lawyers know the ins and outs of copyright…

As copyright only protects original work, non-original or generic works are not protected. For example, you cannot copyright a plain calendar or ruler. Copyright does not protect an idea or concept in the abstract. Having an idea itself is not enough; you must have expressed your idea in a fixed medium (i.e. text, recording, drawing etc) to qualify for copyright protection. For example, you may have an idea for a board or computer game. Copyright cannot protect the idea of the game (i.e., the way the game is played). However, copyright can protect the design, text of the rules, and/or…

No. So why bother? Copyright registration provides you with an automatic presumption of copyright ownership and validity. Registration can be used to sell or license the copyrighted work. Also, if intellectual property litigation arises, you do not need to prove ownership (a sealed self-addressed stamped envelope in lieu of a copyright registration may not be enough). In intellectual property litigation, your opponent has the heavy burden of proving that your copyright is invalid. During the legal dispute for instance, if you have a copyright registration, your opponent cannot raise ignorance of your rights as a defence. Furthermore, if any or…

This is a common question we get as copyright lawyers. Copyright starts as soon as a creative work is created. That is, a government copyright registration is not necessary for copyright to start. Generally, copyright lasts for the duration of the life of the creator of the work, plus fifty (50) years from the end of the calendar year of their passing. You may have heard the copyright law expression, “life plus fifty”. There are exceptions, which is where the help of a copyright lawyer comes in, to maximize the profits/benefits of your creative works. If you find yourself needing…

While not always intuitive – the answer is ‘it can’. Intellectual property infringement litigation concerning a computer program often resembles a patent law case. However, computer programs are not patentable inventions. Thus, in intellectual property law, computer programs fall into the category of literary works under copyright law. Copyright protection for a computer program is complex because it often involves an author of the literary work and a computer programmer. Moreover, they’re often composed of various links, each representing a separate literary work. Certain exemptions also exist when computer programs are copied. For example, the owner or licensee of a…

Copyright protects creative works, including original books and literature, movies, music, and art. Generally, “if you made it”, you own the copyright. Additionally, if you write an article or are paid to design a website for another person or company, you, as the author, own the copyright unless there is a specific transfer agreement in writing. However, if you did so as an employee, the copyright may belong to your employer unless your employment contract says otherwise. Further, if you order/commission and pay for an engraving, photograph or portrait, then you own the copyright to it. Your copyright has value…

Copyright is the embodiment or expression of an idea. The idea must be expressed in some form. Ownership of the idea expressed in some form allows the owner the exclusive right to: use or not; copy; publish; translate; convert; adapt; record; broadcast; reproduce; or allow or prevent others to do the same in Canada. The forms in which copyrights may exist include: literary (a Harry Potter® book or a video game – Game Boy®); dramatic (Film – Gone with the Wind, screenplay to Three Men & a Baby); musical score (Under My Thumb by the Rolling Stones); and artistic work…