Are You Breaching the Law
By copying or printing the written or visual media of other authors you could be breaching the law. Copyright law is very specific and detailed. Find Out More »
What Will Dominion Blue Copy or Print At Your Request
It is important to clarify when you order scanning or copying of previously printed or published work that you specify how you will be using it. In general we will scan, copy or print what you submit provided you are not reselling the newly printed work. In addition, if the submitted worked is specifically stamped or marked ‘do not copy’ such as the originals and proofs of a professional photographer - then we must refuse the work. We want to do our best to help you communicate your work and ideas to others, but do reserve the final decision to copy, scan and print the submitted materials.
Of course if you plan on reselling copied work, you must provide us with the appropriate release from the publisher and/or author. If in doubt you should contact an intellectual property/ copyright lawyer before proceeding. You could be breaching the law?
Summary of Canadian Copyright Law
Canadian copyright law is governed by the Copyright Act, which protects original literary, artistic, musical and dramatic works. A partial list of works which are entitled to copyright protection in Canada includes: books, newspapers, dictionaries, manuals, catalogues, magazines, pamphlets, computer software, paintings, drawings, design trade-marks, sculptures, architectural works, engravings, dramatic works, photographs, films, videos, scripts, maps, lyrics and musical works.
One very significant right granted to the owner of Canadian copyright in a work, is the exclusive right to reproduce the work, (or any substantial part of the work) in any material form whatever. For example, the owner of copyright in a book has the right to stop others from making copies of the book, (or any substantial part of the book), whether the copying is by way of a commercial printer, a photocopy machine, or by way of a computer image/text scanner. In addition to acquiring the exclusive right to copy the work, the owner of copyright in a work also receives an entire "bundle" of rights, some of which are specific to the type of work in question. For example, in the case of a dramatic work, copyright includes the right to convert the dramatic work into a novel. In the case of computer software, it includes the right to rent the software to others. Each different type of work has its own bundle of copyrights.
Copyright comes into existence automatically, at the time the work was created, and, in the case of most works, it continues until the end of the calendar year in which the author of the work dies (regardless of whether the author has sold or assigned the copyright in the work or not), and continues for an additional period of 50 years. There are some notable exceptions to this rule however. One such exception relates to photographs, which are protected by copyright from the time the photograph was taken, up until the end of the calendar year in which the photograph was taken, and for an additional period of 50 years (that is, the termination date of copyright protection for photographs is linked to the date the photograph was taken, and not the date of the photographer's death).
Copyright in a work may be assigned or licensed to others. All assignments and licenses of copyright must be in writing to be valid. The mere transfer of physical possession of a work does not thereby include an assignment of copyright in the work.
Each work in which copyright subsists should be marked with a notice in the following form:"© Smith and Company, 1996". That is, the notice should display the copyright symbol ©, followed by the name of the owner of copyright, followed by the year in which the work was published. This notice is to be displayed in such manner and location as to give reasonable notice of a claim of copyright in the work.