Copyrights vs trade-marks, patents, industrial designs
and integrated circuit topographies

People often confuse copyrights with other forms of intellectual property, including trade-marks, patents, industrial designs and integrated circuit topographies.

Trade-marks are used to distinguish the goods or services of one person or company from those of another. Slogans, names of products, distinctive packages or unique product shapes are all examples of features that are eligible for registration as trade-marks. Sometimes, one aspect of a work may be subject to copyright protection and another aspect may be covered by trade-mark law. For example, if you created a new board game, you might enjoy a copyright on the artwork applied to the face of the game board, the rules of the game and a trade-mark for the game's title.

Patents protect new and useful inventions such as processes, equipment, and manufacturing techniques. They do not cover any artistic or aesthetic qualities of an article. Unlike copyrights, patents can only be obtained by registration.

Industrial designs are protected for their original shape, pattern, ornamentation or configuration (or any combination of these things) applied to a finished manufactured article. The artwork of your game board may be subject to copyright protection. Industrial design protection might be available for the board itself. Industrial design protection, for example, might be available for the shape of a table or the ornamentation on the handle of a spoon. An industrial design may be made by hand or machine. Like patents, industrial designs are obtained only by registration.

Integrated circuit topographies are protected upon registration. An integrated circuit product is a microchip. Protection is for the topography of an integrated circuit product which is a manufactured device made up of a series of layers of semi-conductors, metals, insulators and other materials. The three-dimensional configuration is a "topography." The original design of the topography is protected.

When copyright does not apply

Titles, names and short word combinations are usually not protected by copyright. A "work" or other "subject matter" for copyright purposes must be something more substantial. However, if a title is original and distinctive, it is protected as part of the work it relates to.

You may have a brilliant idea for a mystery plot but until the script is actually written, or the motion picture produced, there is no copyright protection. In the case of a game, it is not possible to protect the idea of the game, that is, the way the game is played, but the language in which the rules are written would be protected as a literary work. Copyright is restricted to the expression in a fixed manner (text, recording, drawing) of an idea; it does not extend to the idea itself.

Other items which are not protected by copyright include:

In the case of a magazine article including factual information, it is the expression of the information that is protected, and not the facts.
Facts, ideas and news are all considered part of the public domain, that is, they are everyone's property.

Note too, that you cannot hold a copyright for a work that is in the public domain. You can adapt or translate such a work and have a copyright for your adaptation or translation.

Copyright applies to:

Copyright does not apply to:

Infringement
A copyright gives you the sole right to produce or reproduce your work, through publication, performances and so on, or to authorize such activities. Anyone who does such things without your permission is infringing, that is, violating, your rights. Naturally, if you publish, perform or copy anyone else's work without their permission, you are infringing their rights.

One specific form of infringement is plagiarism. This is copying someone else's work and claiming it as your own. An obvious example would be taking a novel that someone else wrote and publishing it under your own name (or pen name). Plagiarism can also entail using a substantial part of someone else's work. An example would be copying a novel, and simply changing the title and names of the characters.

Some activities, if done in private, are not considered infringement. For example, if you give a private performance of someone else's song, or play, in your own home, this would not be infringement. Making a copy of a musical tape for private use is not infringement because a royalty payment to the owners of the song rights has been paid when the blank audio tape was purchased. On the other hand, making a copy of a videocassette movie protected by copyright is infringement, even if you only watch it in your own home.

Fair dealing and exceptions

People such as critics, reviewers and researchers often quote works by other authors in articles, books, and so on. Are they infringing copyright? Not necessarily. The Copyright Act provides that any "fair dealing" with a work for purposes of private study or research, or for criticism, review or news reporting is not infringement. However, in the case of criticism, review, or news reporting, the user is required to give the source and the author's, performer's, sound recording maker's or broadcaster's name, if known.

The line between fair dealing and infringement is a thin one. There are no guidelines that define the number of words or passages that can be used without permission from the author. Only the courts can rule whether fair dealing or infringement is involved. In addition to fair dealing, the Copyright Act has exceptions for different categories of users. One category is non-profit educational institutions. These are permitted to make copies and perform works and other subject matter protected by copyright, free of charge, in the classroom, subject to certain restrictions. Educational institutions are also permitted to make use of works protected by copyright if they are done on the premises of an educational institution for educational or training purposes, provided there are no suitable substitutes available in the commercial marketplace. Educational institutions may copy news and news commentary (excluding documentaries) from radio and television broadcasts and keep the copy for educational use on school premises for up to one year from the date the tape is made. All other types of radio and television broadcasts can be copied by educational institutions and kept for up to 30 days to decide whether the copy will be used for educational purposes. If the copy is used for educational purposes, a royalty set by the Copyright Board must be paid.

Another category of user having exceptions under the Copyright Act are "non-profit libraries, archives and museums." These institutions may copy published and unpublished works protected by copyright in order to maintain and manage their collections. Examples are making a copy for insurance purposes and to preserve a rare, original work which is deteriorating.
This can be done as long as copies are not commercially available in a medium that meets the institution's needs. Libraries, archives and museums may copy an entire article of a scholarly, scientific or technical nature provided the copy is used for private study or research purposes. Articles in a newspaper or periodical which are not scholarly, scientific or technical can also be copied if the article is at least 12 months old at the time the copy is made, and provided the copy is used for private study or research purposes.

Another category of user to benefit from exceptions is persons with a "perceptual disability." This term refers to someone who has difficulty reading or hearing. Persons with a perceptual disability, or at the request of a person with a perceptual disability, or for a non-profit organization acting for his or her benefit, to copy a work protected by copyright in alternate formats such as braille, talking books or sign language. The exception applies unless a work in an alternate format is already commercially available.

For a complete list of exceptions to infringement, refer to the Copyright Act.

Examples of infringement

Infringement:

Not infringement: