Canadian Copyright9 key questions

Copyright law was created to protect creators of original material. The law  provides a way of determining "who gets paid" for their original work. It also provides "who pays" for use of that original work.

• literary works
• dramatic works
• music
• artistic works
• performer's performances
• sound recordings
• communication signals

Copyright law protects the person or groups of persons who create original material -- it establishes ownership.  

Some materials have a special term of copyright protection. However, the general rule is that copyright protection lasts for the life of the creator of the work plus 50 years after the creator dies.  After this time passes, in most cases, the work becomes part of the public domain.

In general, copyright ownership gives someone the legal authority, under an agreement, to set contracts with others (whether for a fee or for free) as to who uses their copyrighted material, how it may be used and for how long.

Bill C-11 or the Copyright Modernization Act "introduces legal protection for digital locks. These locks are sometimes used by copyright owners to prevent their works from being accessed or copied without permission. Examples include passwords, encryption software and access codes."
[Source: Govt. of Canada: What the Copyright Modernization Act Says About Digital Locks]

According to the Douglas College Resources for Learning on copyright: "Fair Dealing is an exception that permits limited and non commercial copying for specific purposes. Fair Dealing is a user’s right that facilitates creativity and access to information by balancing the restrictions in the Copyright Act. Fair Dealing is not an unconditional exemption; a person must be using the work for one of the following purposes (listed in Section 29 of the Copyright Act)

• Research
• Private Study
• Criticism
• Review
• News Reporting

Sometimes exceptions will be made, within copyright law, and are generally granted to specific groups that work to benefit the public good; that is, organizations that can prove they serve the best interests of the public. Through these exceptions, the Government may give authority for specific groups to have the right to use copyrighted works without asking permission and without paying for the use of those works.
Under Bill C-11, there are specific exceptions for:

• Expansion of Fair Dealing
• Format shifting (reproduction for private purposes)
• Time shifting
• Back-up Copies
• Non-commercial User Generated Content

• Publicly Available Materials on the Internet
• Distance Education
• Cinematographic works
• Reproduction in Class

• Digital Inter-Library Loans,

When copyright law is broken it is called copyright infringement. Using material without the authorization of the copyright owner may result in some form of legal action,  such as claims for damages, injunctions to prevent use, etc.