As of December 30, 2022, the copyright term in Canada will be changing from author's life plus 50 years to the author's life plus 70 years. This change was made as part of Bill C-19, the Budget Implementation Act, and is required by Canada's obligations under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
What does this mean for me?
Fortunately, this does not change the body of work that is currently in the public domain. All works that were in the public domain as of January 1, 2022 are still in the public domain. The public domain is the body of works that are not protected by copyright and can therefore be used freely, without permission, licence, or fees.
This means the change should have limited impact on your instruction in the short term. However, lengthening the term of copyright protection means that for the next 20 years no new items will be added to the public domain. This means the number of works in the public domain will be frozen in place.
Note that life plus 70 will be the new general term of copyright protection and that certain kinds of works have different terms of protection, such as unpublished works and government documents. See section six of the Copyright Act and/or consult the public domain flowchart provided by the University of Alberta. Note that it may take time for this flowchart to be updated to reflect the recent change to the Act.
In addition, remember that while the original work may be in the public domain, any changes or additions such as translations, abridgements, forwards, and re-recordings may still be under copyright protection. Regardless of whether a work is in the public domain, university policy requires attribution. See Do I have to cite my sources? What does the citation have to include?
Over the next month the Copyright Advisory Committee Working Group will be updating language on the our website to reflect this change.
Examples
Old system (Life plus 50)
Author's life + remainder of that calendar year + 50 years = term of copyright protection. Creators who died in 1971 are the last group of creators whose works will enter the public domain for the next 20 years.
Two examples:
Ogden Nash died May 19, 1971. On January 1, 2022 his work came into the public domain. It will remain in the public domain going forward.
Lucy Maud Montgomery died April 24, 1942. On January 1, 1993 her work entered the public domain. It will remain in the public domain going forward.
New system (Life plus 70)
Author's life + remainder of that calendar year + 70 years = term of copyright protection. Creators who died in 1972 will be the first group of creators to have an extra 20 years of copyright protection.
Two examples:
Cecil Day-Lewis died May 22, 1972. His work will enter the public domain on January 1, 2043.
John le Carré died December 12, 2020. His work will enter the public domain on January 1, 2091.
Have questions?
If you are unsure if what you are using is in the public domain or have any other questions about this change, please reach out to copyright@uwaterloo.ca.
