The following is a guide for reference only. Please refer to the current version of the Copyright Act. and the other resources at the bottom of this page.
Copyright is the right to make a copy of something you created yourself, including published and unpublished writings; photographs and maps; and sound and audio-visual recordings. The creator or author of a work owns the copyright and they have the right to expect payment when someone else reproduces, publishes, or performs the creation, or any substantial part of it.
Copyright applies to all original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works provided the conditions set out in the Copyright Act have been met. Each of these general categories covers a wide range of creations, including:
Researchers have responsibilities with regard to copyright. If a researcher makes a copy without the creator’s permission they may be in violation of copyright rules. It is the sole responsibility of the researcher to find the copyright holder.
Where the author of a work was in the employment of some other person under a contract of service or apprenticeship, and the work was made in the course of their employment by that person, the person by whom the author was employed shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright, but where the work is an article or other contribution to a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, there shall, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be deemed to be reserved to the author a right to restrain the publication of the work, otherwise than as part of a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical.
Copyright lasts for the entirety of the author’s life plus 70 years their death (life of author + 70). For work with multiple authors, copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the last surviving author. The duration of copyright is the same for published and unpublished works. After this period the work enters the public domain, meaning the author no longer holds copyright and permissions are not required for use of any kind.
Work that was in the public domain prior to January 1, 2023 remains so.
Many records held by the Toronto Archives are identified as “Government Records – City owns copyright.” Researchers do not need permission to reproduce or use works produced by the City of Toronto. However if the records contain works produced by non-City authors, copyright is retained by those creators.
If the work was prepared or published by a Canadian federal or provincial government body, the copyright in the work shall belong to His Majesty and shall continue for the remainder of the calendar year of the first publication of the works and for a period of 50 years following the end of that calendar year.
If the identity of the author of a work is unknown, copyright in the work shall subsist until the end of 75 years following the end of the calendar year in which the work was made.
Fair dealing for the purpose of research, private study, education, parody, or satire does not infringe copyright.
Fair dealing for the purpose of criticism or review does not infringe copyright if the following are mentioned: the source, and if given in the source, the name of the author (in the case of a work), performer (in the case of a performer’s performance), maker (in the case of a sound recording), or, broadcaster (in the case of a communication signal).
It is not an infringement of copyright for an individual to reproduce a work if: