Copyright/Types of Copyright
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Copyright - Types of Copyright
Moral Rights
What are moral rights?
Moral rights recognize that a work is a special act of creativity by an author. As a result, an author has special rights that attach to that work, regardless of who owns the copyright.
Moral rights give the author
- the right to the integrity of the work;
- the right to be associated with the work as its author by name or under a pseudonym;
- the right to remain anonymous
What is meant by an author's right to the integrity of his or her work?
An author's right to the integrity of a work is infringed when, to the prejudice of the honour or reputation of the author, the work is
- distorted, mutilated or otherwise modified; or
- used in association with a product, service, cause, or institution.
An infringement of the integrity right may take place where a drawing is altered, or a screenplay is modified in a way that would damage the writer's reputation if the film was shown.
Can moral rights be assigned in the same manner as copyright?
No assignment of moral rights to a person other than the author is possible. They belong to the author and no one else. But moral rights may be waived in whole or in part. However, an assignment of copyright in a work by itself does not constitute a waiver of any moral rights. Moral rights must be expressly waived.
How long do moral rights last?
Moral rights in respect of a work subsist for the same term as the copyright in the work. That term is generally the life of the author, the remainder of the calendar year in which the author dies, and a period of 50 years following the end of that calendar year.
Electronic and Online Publications and Programs
Does copyright law apply to the Internet?
Yes, it does, although the words "electronic" or "Internet" don't appear in the Copyright Act. Because the Internet is a new medium, people may assume that different rules apply there, but that is not the case. Copyright law seeks to protect the fixed expression of an idea, regardless of the medium it is published on. For example, a story that is published on paper, in a book, has a fixed arrangement of words, character and plot. But if that same story was published as an electronic book, on the Internet, it would still have the same words, character and plot. And that is what copyright law tries to protect.
Suppose you bought the most recent best selling paperback book from Tom Clancy, and re-entered the text into your computer. If copyright laws didn't apply on the Internet, nothing would stop you from uploading that text to the World Wide Web and selling Mr. Clancy's book directly. But since copyright subsists in his words, you are not allowed to reproduce them, in a book, on a computer disk, or on the Internet.
Do electronic or online publications raise special copyright problems?
They can, but the problems are mainly practical, not legal. Before the development of computers and the Internet, it was relatively hard to reproduce and distribute materials. That is why authors almost always gave up their copyright to publishers, in exchange for royalties. It was too hard for them to publish a book on their own. The same principles apply to copyright violators. Imagine buying a large encyclopaedia set and trying to copy and sell it in violation of the copyright laws. It would cost a small fortune in paper and binding, let alone trying to find space to stock your copies or stores to distribute it. If a friend asked you for a photocopy, you would probably just laugh.
Now think about that same encyclopaedia in electronic format, on CD-ROM. You can copy all or part of it with a few commands on a computer, and easily store a four volume work on a small, inexpensive disc. You can give the copy to a friend, and deprive the author and publisher of their legitimate revenue. The copyright rules aren't any different, but the practicalities of enforcing those rules are.
What about online publications? What special problems do they create?
There are several copyright issues that impact online publications. But again, these issues relate primarily to the practical problems of evidence and enforcement. First, once a publication is online, it is instantly accessible to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. That means it can be easily copied. It also means that someone can duplicate all or part of the publication almost instantly, and post it on another site. This can raise questions about who was the author or original copyright holder.
Secondly, a key aspect of copyright law is the "fixing" of a work into a tangible form with some permanence. When a book is published in hard copy form, that edition is automatically fixed. But online publications often are not static. They may be constantly updated and improved, so that their content and form may be different tomorrow than it was yesterday. They present a moving target. This raises practical problems when it comes to proving who created what, and when.
What is meant by a computer program? Is it protected by copyright?
A computer program is a set of instructions or statements, expressed, fixed, embodied or stored in any manner, that is to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a specific result.
Computer programs are very definitely protected by copyright law. They are treated as literary works for the purposes of the Copyright Act.
When I buy a book or computer program, what am I buying? I don't acquire any copyright interest, do I?
When you purchase a book or a computer program, you are really purchasing a licensing to use the underlying information for specific purposes. In fact, the only thing you are buying is the copy — the actual media, the paper, cover, or computer disk, not the data that is stored on that media.
This makes sense in the context of copyright law. Buying a video game doesn't mean that you now own the computer program that underlies it, anymore than buying a novel means that you own the story. If you did, you could copy and sell it freely. This would undermine the author's economic interests which are at the heart of copyright protection.
When can I make a copy of a computer program without violating copyright?
A person who legally owns a copy of a computer program can make a single copy of that program only in the following two circumstances:
1. Adaptation: Where the copy involves adapting, modifying or converting the computer program or translating it into another computer language if the person proves that the copy is
- essential for the compatibility of the computer program with a particular computer,
- solely for the person's own use, and
- destroyed immediately after the person ceases to be the owner of the original copy.
2. Backup: Where the copy is for backup purposes if the backup copy is destroyed immediately when the person ceases to be the owner of the original copy.
Crown Copyright
What is Crown copyright?
Crown copyright is copyright held by the government, whether federal or provincial. Most often it arises in the same way as an employer's copyright in work produced by its employees. Where any work is, or has been, prepared or published by or under the direction or control of the Crown or any government department, the copyright in the work generally belongs to the government.
How long does Crown copyright last?
When Crown copyright arises, it continues for the remainder of the calendar year of the first publication of the work and for a period of 50 years following the end of that calendar year.
Does Crown copyright apply to statutes, regulations, and court decisions?
Theoretically, since laws and court decisions are made by or under the direction or control of the Crown, these kinds of materials would be copyrighted by the government. Historically, however, the government has recognized that citizens in a democracy have a right to free access to the laws and rulings of their elected and appointed officials.
The courts have also ruled that statutes, regulations, and judicial decisions were in the public domain because recognizing copyright in them would go against public policy. Therefore, these materials have traditionally been available to anyone, without any copyright restriction.
Some governments in Canada have considered asserting copyright in statutes, regulations, and court rulings. This would allow those governments to raise revenue by collecting royalties when the materials were copied or published in other works. However, the federal government has recently issued an regulatory order that all federal laws and court rulings are to be freely available to be copied by anyone without charge or request for permission.
This page was last updated in December, 1999.
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