In Canada, “copyright” means “the right to copy.” In general, copyright means the sole right to produce or reproduce a work or a substantial part of it in any form.
Copyright FAQs
What exactly is copyright?
A copyright is an artificial form of intellectual property law that protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works.
Examples of works that may be copyrighted are:
- architecture designs,
- painted artworks,
- code of computer software,
- digital art,
- drawings,
- movies,
- novels,
- photos,
- poetry, and
- songs.
How do I get a copyright?
In Canada, the Canadian Copyright Act gives you two levels of copyright.
The first level of copyright is achieved when you create an original work. So if you take a picture with your phone, with your original composition and perspective, your photo will automatically be considered to be owned by you. This first level of copyright gives you some rights, but if you ever want to enforce your rights, it is much better to get your copyright registered before you publish it.
The second level of getting a copyright is registering your original work with the Canadian Copyright Office.
Can I copyright my business name?
No, you cannot copyright a business name because it is too short to be copyrighted and since trade name registrations and trademark registrations are the correct ways to register and protect your business name or business division names.
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