At common law, anyone was able to use and copy anything that someone else created. Copyright, in Canada, is an artificial right created by the Canadian Parliament. Copyright laws restrict how you may use original works created by others for a period of time.
The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed common law user rights, and strictly construed the rights authors have under the Copyright Act, after lower courts had found that some users were infringing original works of others.
Stay tuned for an update and an analysis of user rights in Canada.