doing business in canada - Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

to perform or cause them to be performed in public and to authorize all such acts. Generally, copyright inCanada exists for the life of the author and 50 years following the end of the year of his or her death. Otherterms apply to particular works, such as photographs, phonograph records, posthumous works, and worksauthored jointly, where differing criteria are applied to determine the duration of the copyright.Copyright arises automatically in Canada upon creation of the work in respect of any original literary, dramatic,musical or artistic work, including a compilation, and in a sound recording, provided that the work created isoriginal and has been fixed on a permanent support. Copyright can be granted if the creator or author of thework is a citizen or subject of, or ordinarily resident in, a country that is a party to the Berne Convention or theUniversal Copyright Convention, or a member of the WTO.The Copyright Act also establishes a regulatory framework for the collective administration of performers'copyrights in their performances, including the establishment of a compulsory licensing scheme to provide forthe collection of royalties in the event of a communication of the performance to the public bytelecommunication. Where a retransmission of a performance takes place, the Copyright Act also establishes aregulatory framework for existing distribution systems, such as cable and satellite.The Copyright Act provides protection for computer programs in both source code and object code.The Copyright Act provides a system for the registration of copyright interests and assignments of copyrightinterests. Registration is not necessary to create copyright in a particular work, but does serve as prima facieevidence of copyright ownership and strengthens the remedies available to a party whose copyright is infringed.Again, marking of copyright material is not essential in Canada, but it may be prudent and is required in order toobtain copyright protection under certain international treaties.In most cases, copyright belongs initially to the author of the work. The most prominent exception to this rule isthat copyright in works created in the course of employment belong initially to the employer, unless there is anagreement to the contrary. In the case of an independent contractor, it is advisable to stipulate ownership of thecopyright in a written agreement.Anyone using a work without the copyright owner's consent infringes the copyright. In addition, persons whorent, sell, distribute or import infringing works are indirect infringers of copyright under Canadian law. Remediesfor infringement include an injunction to stop the infringement and a claim for damages resulting from theinfringement.In addition to the economic rights mentioned above, the Copyright Act gives authors certain moral rights. Theseinclude the right of an author or creator to claim authorship of the work and the right of integrity of the work,that is, the right to restrain or sue for damages in respect of any distortion or modification of the work whichprejudices the integrity or reputation of the creator. Moral rights exist for the same term of copyright in thework. They belong to the author and may not be assigned, although they may be waived in whole or in part. Theassignment of a copyright in a work does not, by that act alone, constitute a waiver of any moral right.Canada is a party to the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO") Copyright Treaty and the WIPOPerformances and Phonograms Treaty. In order to comply with these two WIPO treaties, the federal governmenthas recently introduced proposed legislation (Bill C-32) in Parliament to amend the Copyright Act to address anumber of issues including:• adequate legal protection and remedies against the circumvention of effective technological measures(such as data encryption, signatures, access codes and asymmetric key systems) that are used byauthors in connection with the exercise of their rights; and50 Industrial and Intellectual Property