SODRAC

According to the Canadian Copyright Law, the author of an original artistic work (painting, drawing, sculpture, engraving, work of artistic craftsmanship, photography, illustration, ...) has, as a general rule, the exclusive right to authorize or forbid certain uses that can be made of his work and this, even though he is no longer the owner of the original work itself.

These uses include:

the reproduction of the work in any material form whatever (books, catalogues, posters, postcards, record covers, clothes, jewellery, etc.) as well as in audiovisual (film, video, documentary,...) or multimedia (CD-Rom, Internet, ...) productions;
the communication of the work to the public by telecommunication (television broadcast, Internet);
and, in certain cases, the presentation of a work at a public exhibition for a purpose other than sale or hire.

In Canada, these rights are generally granted for a period equivalent to the life of the author plus fifty years after his death. In the United-States and in European Union countries the basic protection period is extended to seventy years. Once the protection period comes to term, the works belong to the public domain and can be used without prior authorization.

Any person, company or organization who wishes to use protected artwork for any purpose specified in the Copyright Act must therefore obtain prior written authorization from the author or his representatives failing which they could be liable to a legal action in copyright infringement.

In addition to ensuring a control over certain uses that can be made of their works, the Copyright Act also enables artists or their representatives to collect a monetary compensation in counterpart of any exploitation rights that are granted.

The collective management of copyrigh t | SODRAC and artistic works
Repertoire | How to obtain licensing | Becoming a SODRAC affiliate