WHAT IS A “COPYRIGHT?”
by Bill Stemp
Copyright is the means by which you can prevent anyone from copying, reproducing or using any ”work” or anything that you have created. Examples of items that could be protected by copyright would include architectural blueprints, drawings, photographs, sculptures, computer software, books, poems, music, videos, audio recordings and similar items.
HOW IS COPYRIGHT CREATED?
Copyright is not created by filing any document with the Canadian Copyright Office. Rather, it is “created” by virtue of creating the item in which you are claiming copyright. In other words, if you take a photograph or create a recipe, you own the “copyright” in that item immediately upon completing or creating the “work.” This means that you are not required to file anything with the Copyright Office in order to own the copyright in the thing that you have created.
The filing of a Declaration of Copyright with the Canadian Copyright Office is the most public means by which you can file or give notice of your ownership of the copyright and the work that you have created. This may become critically important if you were to become involved in a dispute with anyone else over the “authorship” of the thing or work that you have created. Thus, we always recommend that you file a Declaration of Copyright in the Canadian Copyright Office in order to give notice of your claim of copyright and to secure your legal rights in the thing that you have created and to prevent it from being reproduced without your authorization.
HOW DO I ENFORCE MY CLAIM TO COPYRIGHT?
You would enforce your claim to copyright by commencing legal action, i.e., a lawsuit claiming that someone has infringed your right of copyright by reproducing, without your authorization, the thing that you are claiming copyright in. In such legal action, you are entitled to several legal remedies including seeking an injunction from the Court and seeking damages against the alleged infringer as well as your legal costs.
CAN I TRANSFER OR SELL MY COPYRIGHT TO ANYONE?
Yes. You can transfer, sell or assign your right of the copyright to anyone of your choosing. For instance, when an author completes writing a book, he or she would usually transfer the right of copyright to the publisher to enable the publisher to reproduce the book. The second way this can be handled would be to “licence” the copyright to the publisher. Licencing your copyright means that you give permission or authorization to the publisher to reproduce and sell the work (in this case a book) but you have not sold or transferred ownership of the copyright to the publisher. In that case the publisher would pay you a royalty which could be based upon how many books were sold or it could be an annual royalty or it could be a one time payment to you.
Stemp & Company
1670, 734 – 7th Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta T2P 3P8
Bill Stemp
403-777-1125 bill@stemp.com
