Podcasting Legal Guide For Canada

Another example is of a book that is in the public domain. Although the text of a public domain work, say, Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1504), may be free to use (for example to record a reading of the text); an image of a recently published edition of the book – e.g. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743484886) – may implicate the publisher’s copyright in the layout and formatting of that text, the cover art, etc., thus necessitating the publisher’s consent to use an image of that book in your podcast or a determination as to whether your use amounts to a fair dealing of the published edition.

<span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc170033704">3.2.3      You Are Using a Canadian Government Work While works created by the US government are not protected by copyright, Crown Copyright in Canadian law protects works created under the direction or control of Her Majesty or any government department.

Unpublished works are protected in perpetuity, while those published are subject to protection for 50 years after their publication date.<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-CA;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA; mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">[21] The main purpose of Crown Copyright is not to prevent public access to government documents, but to ensure accuracy in their contents.

In fact, the Canadian government has waived the enforcement of copyright in relation to laws and court decisions so long as (1) due diligence is exercised to ensure the accuracy of the materials reproduced, and (2) the reproduction is not presented as an official version.<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-CA;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA; mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">[22] In circumstances where the government documents are works created by an employee in a “contract for services” relationship<span style="mso-special-character: footnote"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-CA;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">[23], the copyright may reside with the author as opposed to the government department.

In this case, you would have to clear the rights with the author. If you do incorporate government works into your podcast, you should also consider including in any copyright notice that accompanies the podcast a statement that identifies which portions of your podcast are protected by copyright and which are Canadian government works.

This is important for several reasons: (1) it allows people to know which works they can freely use and repurpose; (2) it removes the ability, if you bring an action against someone for infringement, for that person to argue that they did not have proper notice of the copyrighted status of your work.

<span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc170033705"><span style="mso-list: Ignore">3.2.4      You Are Engaged in “Fair Dealing” You may engage in “fair dealing” of a copyrighted text without obtaining permission of the copyright owner.

We discuss “fair dealing” in more detail, and provide some examples, in Section 3.11 08D0C9EA79F9BACE118C8200AA004BA90B02000000080000000E0000005F005200650066003100360039003500340032003500300035000000 of this Guide – “Fair Dealing Under Copyright Law And Its Application To Podcasts 08D0C9EA79F9BACE118C8200AA004BA90B02000000080000000E0000005F005200650066003100360039003500340032003400390037000000 ”. <span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc170033706">3.2.5      You Are Using Creative Commons-Licensed or “Podsafe” Content Creative Commons’ licensed content is generally “podsafe” (i.e. is pre-cleared for use in podcasts) when your use is consistent with the applicable licence terms.

Creative Commons’ licences clearly signal to the public which uses you may make under the terms of the licence and which uses require separate and specific permission.

This means that it is important to check the terms of the applicable Creative Commons licence to identify the relevant uses that are authorized in advance. Compliance with the terms of the Creative Commons licence is necessary because otherwise the licence terminates and then your use will become infringing.

If you use Creative Commons-licensed work in your podcast, you will need to provide attribution in the manner specified by the author and/or licensor. In addition, you must keep intact any copyright notices that accompany the work.

Include the title of the work and any Uniform Resource Indicator provided by the licensor that also includes copyright or licensing information about the work. You also need to retain a notice or URL for the licence and the warranty disclaimer that applies to the work with each copy you make and distribute of it.

Briefly, the common Creative Commons licence conditions from Creative Commons core licensing suite may limit your use of a CC-licensed work in the following ways.

The icons provided are standard Creative Commons icons representing the restrictions and they appear in the Creative Commons licence deeds: NoDerivatives – This licence condition requires that any copy of the work you make is verbatim.

In other words, you may not change the work. For example, you may not translate a textual work into another language or dramatize an existing work.

You can, however, still include a NoDerivatives licensed work as part of another larger work (known as a “collective work”). For example, you can include several pieces of music together to form a collective work, as long as the work itself is unaltered.