Effective November 7th, 2012, Canada made sweeping changes via their Copyright Modernization Act. There are many changes, but the major one for photographers is that now photographers own their own copyright rather than the commissioning party. Previously, if you hired a photographer, you owned the copyright and photographers had to transfer the copyright to themselves through paperwork. Arrrg.
But now Canadian law mirrors copyright law in the US regarding a photographer’s right to their copyright. You shoot it, you own it.
They also expanded and defined more fair uses of copyright. As explained by the Canadian government:
“…clarify Internet service providers’ liability and make the enabling of online copyright infringement itself an infringement of copyright; permit businesses, educators and libraries to make greater use of copyright material in digital form; allow educators and students to make greater use of copyright material; permit certain uses of copyright material by consumers; give photographers the same rights as other creators; ensure that the Copyright Act remains technologically neutral; and mandate a parliamentary review of the Copyright Act every five years.”
It’s also interesting to read the Canadian Government’s stated objective with these changes:
“Recognizing the critical role a modern copyright regime plays in Canada’s digital economy, the Act balances the needs of creators and users and ensures that Canada’s copyright laws are modern, flexible, and in line with current international standards.”
We find it very relevant in their objective statement that they use the words “critical role” in describing the importance of copyright in the new digital economy. Lesson for all our readers – register all your images, make sure all your paperwork is in order, always use a proper contract. While so many, including the Canadian Government, see the value of intellectual property and copyright, it’s time for the majority of photographers to abandon a mostly casual attitude to their own work. If you’re in the minority that does register all your photos and have proper paperwork, bravo. If not, start today.
So our hats off to our neighbors in the Great White North for changing the law in their photographer’s favor. Just beautiful, eh?
#1 by Lesley on November 9, 2012 - 7:57 am
Note that Canada does not the same fair use provision as in the U.S. Canada has something called fair dealing, and the amendments add 3 new purposes to fair dealing: education, parody and satire. Fair dealing is a defense to an otherwise copyright infringement. The dealing must fit within one of the specified purposes, then must also be considered fair according to 6 factors set out by the Supreme Court of Canada.
#2 by DR Chevalier on November 13, 2012 - 8:47 am
Gentlemen,
Thank you for being so diligent and for your awareness of what is happening in Canada. As I mentioned to Mr. Reznicki at Photoshop World your book is required reading for all of my students.
Best regards,
Ross
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#3 by John Dabarno on January 19, 2013 - 9:39 am
I just watched your tutorial on Kelby Training – The Business Side of Ed Greenberg: Copyright Protection for Photographers, and live in Canada and was wondering how do I register my photographs and get a copyright in this country. Can you offer any advice on where to go to accomplish this, thanks.
#4 by Lori Hoddinott on April 4, 2013 - 7:56 pm
John …. this is the link to register your photos in Canada. http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00051.html
#5 by Stephen Donolo on October 1, 2013 - 4:59 pm
In Canada, you must apply to register your copyright for each image. The application is $60 per application. So if you want to register 10 images you make 10 applications costing a total of $600. In the US you can register as many images as you can fit on a dvd in the same application and the fee per application is $50. The time and cost for Canadian photographers is a huge problem.
#6 by Jack and Ed on October 7, 2013 - 1:52 pm
Stephen, We don’t claim to be experts in Canadian law (just US) but it’s $35 to register online here in the US. While you can send in a DVD, it takes longer and delays the effective date of the registration. Uploading a zipped folder of small JPEGs is much easier. You can send in a huge number of unpublished JPEGs online, I just sent in 11,000 images from an Africa trip. That’s unpublished work. There is a limit on published images, and we highly recommend to register images before they are published. Photos registered as unpublished before they are published (like posting to a social media site) are fully protected if then published after registration. Hope that clarifies.
Jack