What laws govern copyright in Canada and at Capilano University?
What licences/agreements govern copyright at Capilano University?
What rights does the copyright holder have?
How can I tell if a work is covered by copyright?
Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted by law to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute, and adapt the work. These rights give copyright holders control over the use of their work.
What laws govern copyright in Canada and at Capilano University?
Copyright in Canada is governed by the Copyright Act.
What licences/agreements govern copyright at Capilano University?
The University also has agreements with vendors, which deal with the access and use of the Library's electronic resources (e.g. databases, ebooks). Learn more in the Licensing section of this guide.
Copyright covers literary, dramatic, artistic, and musical works, sound recordings, performances, and communication signals. This includes works on the Internet. See the Copyright Act for details.
Copyright spans "the life of the author, the remainder of the calendar year in which the author dies, and a period of seventy years following the end of that calendar year." See the Copyright Act for details. Note: The term of copyright protection changed from 50 years to 70 years on December 30, 2022, in accordance with CUSMA. This change does not affect any works already in the public domain.
What rights does the copyright holder have?
Generally, the creator of the work holds copyright. See the Copyright Act for details.
The Copyright Act includes exceptions for “fair dealing” for the purpose of research, private study, education, parody or satire. See the Copyright Act for details. For classroom application, see FAQ: Copyright in the Classroom.
The author of a work has the right to protect the integrity of that work, as well as the right to always be identified as the author of that work, or the right to remain anonymous. See the Copyright Act for details.
Works in the public domain are owned by the public and are free of copyright restrictions. Works can be in the public domain because the copyright term expired, the work is not eligible for copyright, or the author has released the work into the public domain.
Public domain does NOT equal publicly available. In other words, if a work is publicly available (e.g. on the Internet) is is not necessarily part of the public domain.
See Government of Canada Publications for details.
How can I tell if a work is covered by copyright?
Copyright is created automatically with the work. Best practice is to assume the work is covered by copyright. If you are unsure of the copyright status of a work, or whether Capilano University Library has or can obtain a licence for use of the work, contact the Library.