COPYRIGHT REGULATIONS

Copyright Regulations

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REGULATIONS
Copyright Act

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P.C. 1997-1422 1 October, 1997

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Industry and the Treasury Board, pursuant to sections 59^a and 62^b of the Copyright Act, hereby makes the annexed Copyright Regulations.

^a S.C. 1993, c. 15, s. 8
^b S.C. 1997, c. 24, s. 37(2)

1. The definitions in this section apply in these Regulations.

"Act" means the Copyright Act. (Loi)

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Patents. (commissaire)

2. (1) All correspondence intended for the Commissioner shall be addressed to the Copyright Office.

(2) Subject to subsection (4), correspondence addressed to the Copyright Office shall be considered to be received by the Copyright Office on the day that the correspondence is delivered to one of the following establishments, where the delivery is made during the business hours of that establishment, namely,

(a) the Copyright Office; or

(b) an establishment that is designated by the Commissioner in the Canadian Patent Office Record as an establishment to which correspondence addressed to the Copyright Office may be delivered.

(3) Correspondence addressed to the Copyright Office may be transmitted to the Copyright Office by facsimile, in which case the facsimile shall be considered to be received by the Copyright Office on the day it is transmitted, where the transmission takes place before midnight local time of the place where the Copyright Office is located.

(4) Where the delivery mentioned in subsection (2) is made after business hours, correspondence addressed to the Copyright Office shall be considered to be received by the Copyright Office on the next working day at the start of business hours.

3. (1) Communication in respect of a copyright shall be in writing, bu the Commissioner may also accept oral communications.

(2) The Commissioner may request that an oral communication be confirmed in writing.

4. (1) Any address required to be furnished pursuant to the Act or these Regulations shall be a complete mailing address and shall include the street name and number, where one exists, and the postal code.

(2) Where the Commissioner has not been notified of a change of address, the Commissioner is not responsible for any correspondence not received by an author, legal representative, any person purporting to be the agent of an author or their legal representative, or by an assignor, assignee, licensor or licensee.

5. (1) An application for the registration of a copyright

(a) in a work, shall be made in accordance with section 55 of the Act, and deal with the registration of only one work; or

(b) in a performer's performance, sound recording or communication signal , shall be made in accordance with section 56 of the Act, and deal with the registration of only one performer's performance, sound recording or communication signal.

(2) An application for the registration of a copyright referred to in subsection (1) shall be accompanied by the fee set out in column 2 of the item 1 of the schedule.

6. (1) A request for the registration of an assignment of copyright, or a licence granting an interest in a copyright, shall

(a) be in writing; and

(b) contain the following information:

(i) the names and addresses of the assignor and assignee or the licensor and licensee,

(ii) a description of the interest being granted by assignment or licence, and

(iii) the title of the work, performer's performance, sound recording or communication signal, and if available, the registration number of that work, performer's performance, sound recording or communication signal.

(2) A request for registration referred to in subsection (1) shall be accompanied by

(a) any document referred to in paragraph 57(1) (a) of the Act; and

(b) the fee set out in column 2 of the item 2 of the schedule.

7. Where the Commissioner determines that an application for registration of copyright, or a request for registration of an assignment of copyright, or a licence granting a interest in a copyright, is defective because it lacks any information or other item, the Commissioner shall notify the person applying for or requesting registration and that person shall have sixty days from the date of that notice to cure the defect. If the defect is not cured within that sixty day period, the Commissioner shall notify that person that the application or request has been rejected, in which case no further action may be taken for registration unless a fresh application or request is made and the applicable fee set out in the schedule for that fresh application or request is paid.

8. All applications for registration of copyright, requests for registration of an assignment of copyright, or a licence granting an interest in a copyright, and any correspondence to the Commissioner shall be legible and clear and, if in paper form, on white paper that measures at least 8 inches by 11 inches (21 cm by 28 cm) b not more than 8 1/2 inches by 14 inches (22cm by 35 cm) on one side only, with left and upper margins of at least 1 inch (2.5 cm).

9. The fee to be paid by a user of a service of the Copyright Office set out in column 1 of any of items 3 to 6 of the schedule is the fee set out in column 2 of that item.

10. The Copyright Rules¹ are repealed.

¹ C.R.C., c. 422

11. These Regulations come into force on October 1, 1997.

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Item	Column 1 Service	Column 2 Fee ($)
1.	Accepting an application for registration of a copyright
	(a) pursuant to section 55 of the Act	65
	(b) pursuant to section 55 of the Act	65
2.	Accepting for registration an assignment or licence of a copyright pursuant to section 57 of the Act	65
3.	Processing a request for accelerated action on an application for for registration of a copyright or for registration of an assignment, licence or other document	65
4.	Correcting a clerical error in any instrument of record including, without further fee, issuing a corrected certificate of registration of copyright, pursuant to section 61 of the Act, or processing a request to include in the Register of Copyrights any other document affecting a copyright	65
5.	Certifying a copy of a document
	(a) for the certificate	35
	(b) for each page	.50
6.	Providing copies of or extracts from the Register of Copyrights, or copies of certificates, licences or other documents, for each page	.50

Description

The current Copyright Rules are repealed in their entirety and replaced with new regulations called the Copyright Regulations. The changes are made to the Copyright Rules, for three reasons:

1. NAFTA and WTO

The compulsory licencing regimes for books in the Copyright Act were repealed in order to meet Canada's harmonization obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement. As a result, the corresponding royalty systems and Forms 1-8 set out in the Copyright Rules are no longer enforceable and are repealed.

2. Fee Changes Necessary for Full Cost Recovery

All fees payable for services provided by the Copyright Office are currently contained in the Copyright Fees Order, a separate regulation made under the Financial Administration Act. That Order is repealed and all fees incorporated as a Schedule to the new Copyright Regulations. The fees are increased to accurately reflect the cost to the government of administering the copyright registration system. Copyright fees have not been changed since 1985.

3. Modernization and Implementation of Bill C-32, An Act to amend the Copyright Act

Bill C-32, An Act to amend the Copyright Act, received Royal Assent on April 25, 1997. Among the measures introduced by the Bill is a modernization of the copyright registration process administered by the Copyright Office.

In addition to the copyright subject matter currently registrable, Bill C-32 adds three other kinds of subject matter that the Office will register:

1. performer's performances;
2. sound recordings; and
3. communication signals.

The new application filing fee that applies to applications for copyright in traditional works is extended to these new subject matter applications.

The application process for registering a copyright is made more flexible in the new regulations by eliminating the mandatory use of a formal application form prescribed by regulation. Although the Copyright Office provides suggested application forms to applicants upon request, it is now open to applicants to submit the necessary information in a manner that they find convenient, particularly in regard to the variety of word processing systems in use in Canada today.

Requests for the registration of an assignment of copyright or a licence granting an interest in copyright now contain the names and addresses of the parties involved, a description of the interest being transferred and the title and registration number, where applicable, of the copyright. This additional information allows the Copyright Office to process these requests faster and to provide more accurate information to the public.

In cases where there has been a lengthy period of inactivity by the applicant on a pending application, the Office now closes the application file after a notification is sent to the applicant and a response is not received within a specified period of time. A file that is closed in these circumstances may not be re-opened; a new application would have to be filed.

Alternatives

Amending the Copyright Rules is the only effective means of implementing the necessary changes.

Benefits and Costs

This initiative is not expected to cause a financial burden for the copyright owners or other users of Canada's copyright system. Increases to the fees are meant to recover the cost of administering the copyright system. New fees have been added to recover costs associated with services that, in the past, have been provided to applicants and owners at no charge, or are introduced to implement Bill C-32.

The Copyright Office as part of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, a Special Operating Agency (SOA), is required to break-even, meaning expenses are recovered through fees. The fees currently being collected for the registration of copyrights and the other services provided by the Copyright Office are not sufficient to meet the expense of providing the services. The fee increases help ensure that full cost recovery is achieved.

Consultation

Copyright owners and users were consulted throughout the regulation drafting process. The Copyright sent details on the draft regulations and fee increases directly to thirty-six (36) clients, both companies and individuals, who are either frequent applicants for copyright registration or represent applicants for copyright registration on a regular basis. These groups include the Patent and Trademark Institute of Canada, the Canadian Bar Association, Universal Films Canada, Prentice Hall Canada, Inc., Cancopy, Éditions Bitumen Ltée, and many Canadian universities. From this group of thirty-six, only two replies were received.

The Copyright Office also received feedback on the proposed amendments to the regulations and fees as published in the Canada Gazette and on CIPO's home page, from a few interested associations and a few individuals. Comments were received from the Canadian Music Publishers Association, Canadian Publishers Council, Morning Music Limited, TMP -- The Music Publisher, Scientific American and individuals. Some clients that deal with the Office frequently commented that the increase in fees was reasonable given that fee levels had not changed in twelve (12) years. Other comments reflected a general concern with the increase in fees for registration of copyrights. In response to these concerns, the Copyright Office discussed with stakeholders the significant changes to the registration process that have been made through automation, the improvements in response time for registration and the increased information services being provided through the Internet, information circulars, educational information to students and teachers, and training sessions.

Those who use the registration system, and who benefit from the legal presumptions that registration provides, pay for the system and its benefits since no general tax dollars are available for its maintenance. It is important to note that the registration process is voluntary so there is no requirement to register.

A copy of the proposed Copyright Regulations is also available on the Internet from CIPO's home page. The Internet address is: cipo.gc.ca

Early notice was provided in the 1996 Federal Regulatory Plan under number IC/94-6-I.

Compliance and Enforcement

No compliance mechanism is required since applicants using the copyright system are seeking a benefit.