Copyright protection arises automatically when a work is created and generally subsists until 70 years after the author’s death, though this can vary depending on the type of work and where you want to use it. Works protected by copyright include literary, dramatic, artistic and musical works; sound recordings; performances; and communication signals. After copyright expires, the work enters the public domain and can be used freely without the need for permission or payment.
In Canada, there is no requirement that the work be registered or that the word "copyright," or the symbol ©, appear on the work in order to be protected under the law.
When you want to use a particular work in Canada, the safest approach is to assume that the work is protected by copyright, unless there is a clear indication to the contrary or the author has been dead for at least 70 years.
The Canadian Public Domain Flowchart can help you determine whether a work's copyright has expired.
Note: The information obtained from or through this website is provided as guidelines for using works for educational purposes and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Contact copy@sfu.ca with any questions. The Copyright Officer is not a lawyer or legal expert in copyright law and is able to provide a professional and not a legal opinion. A professional opinion is offered for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice.
This work, the Simon Fraser University Copyright website, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise noted.