Collections and Fonds – 354

Series consists of records created and/or maintained by the Copyright Office and its predecessors.

Also included in the series are art works and photographic prints registered with the Department of Agriculture, who was responsible for copyright, patent, and trademark registrations. Copies of photographs, paintings and drawings were submitted by the artist in order to obtain copyright protection under the terms of the 1862 British Copyright Act. Graphic and philatelic material have been organized into a sub-series entitled Visual material.

In addition, the series includes one brass Dominion Identification Company tag.

A branch of the Department of Agriculture, the Copyright and Trade-Mark Branch of the Canadian Federal Government was established to enforce the Copyright Act intended to protect the rights of the author and/or the first owner of copyright.
At the international level, the 1886 Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works is the starting point for all copyright law. In 1926, Canada signed this international treaty which advocates that the creator of any new artistic or literary work automatically receives copyright. Copyright is protected for the life of the creator plus fifty years. In Canada, the first Canadian legislation on copyrights, entitled "An Act for the Protection of Copy Rights," was passed in 1832. A Registrar of Copyright was established under the Minister of Agriculture with the Copyright Act of 1868. A revised copyright statute was enacted in 1921, came into force in 1924, and was amended in 1931. The Copyright Act was passed in 1985 (C-42). More recently, Bill C-32 was introduced into parliament in April 1996, and extended more rights to owners of copyright.

Directed by the Registrar of Copyrights, the Copyright Office is the federal agency responsible for the function of registering copyrights in Canada. A copyright is defined as an original work of artistic, literary, dramatic, or musical design. It must not be copied and must involve some intellectual effort. Titles, names and short word combinations are not usually protected by copyright -- it must be a more substantial original creation. Copyright may be given for the unique expression of an idea, but it does not extend to the idea itself.

When an original work is created, copyright protection is automatically afforded to the creator, except under certain circumstances. Registration of the copyright at the Copyright Office is the official acknowledgment of a claim, and a certificate is issued providing ownership of rights for court purposes. In effect, the Copyright Act prohibits others from copying your work without permission and protects intellectual property.

The main functions of the Copyright Office are: registering copyrights; recording the details which were provided, and giving a certificate attesting to this fact; maintaining records of all registrations and other pertinent documents for public use.

To register a copyright, an application must be sent to the Copyright Office. The application is reviewed, but not judged for artistic or creative merit as the Copyright Office is simply an office for registration. Information from the application is entered into a database (all copyright applications after October 1991 are on an automated system -- the Copyright Name Index) and the certificate is issued. As the 1994 CIPO Guide To Copyrights explains, "There is no requirement to mark your work under the Copyright Act....Although not obligatory in Canada, such marking can serve as a reminder to others of copyright as well as providing the name of the owner."

Although copyright is an essential component of process behind the creation of new and enlightening works of art, literature, computer programs and a myriad of other products, as mentioned above, copyright automatically falls to the original creator. The Copyright Office is in effect a registrar for individuals who for some reason or another have decided to formally certify their work. The Copyright Office does not have a list detailing all works created in Canada, and it does not have to because that is already protected under Canadian law. RDA 2000/017 Department of Industry Canadian Intellectual Property Office - Trade-marks Office and Copyright and Industrial Design Branch (Appraisal report)