Provisions for Musical Works under the Copyright Act

Provisions for Musical Works under the Canadian Copyright Act

The Copyright Act of Canada ensures the rights of the original artists in all areas of creative endeavour. Protection for musical works falls under several categories, including:

compositions consisting of both words and music, or music only
lyrics without music, which fall into the category of literary works
sound recordings, such as records, cassettes and compact discs
performances by musicians
broadcasters’ communication signals

Copyright laws are not always straightforward. For example, a song may be copyright-protected; but a separate copyright must apply to the medium that contains the song, such as a cassette or a CD, because the two are considered to be different works (section 9).

In Canada, radio stations have copyright-cleared permission to broadcast whatever music they choose — provided that they compensate the composer, music publisher, performer and record producer. A broadcaster can authorize another broadcaster to simultaneously retransmit the signal. In the case of television, retransmission includes broadcasting a communication signal in an open public place.

Music copyright is considered to be infringed when material is rented, sold, distributed, traded or even just possessed without the consent of the copyright holder (section 27). However, some activities are not considered infringement if done for purely private use. As well, copying a musical tape for private use is not considered infringement, because a royalty payment to the owners of the song was paid when the blank audio-tape was purchased (section 82).

The regulatory body, empowered by the Copyright Act to establish royalties to be paid for the use of works, is the Copyright Board of Canada (section 66). Royalty fees are paid to copyright collectives, which represent owners of works who have banded together. One of the largest copyright collectives in Canada is the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).

SOCAN licenses the public performance and telecommunication of the world’s repertoire of copyright-protected musical works in Canada, and then distributes royalties to its members and affiliated international societies. Other copyright collectives in Canada range from radio and television programming, to makers of sound recordings.