Copyright literally means the right to copy.

In Canada, all original creative works are protected by copyright as soon as they are fixed in some format. This includes print materials, art work, photos, videos, CDROMs, DVDs, computer software, web pages, emails, wikis and blogs.

The Copyright Act grants a series of rights to the copyright owner, who is most often the author or creator of the work. If the work is created in the course of employment, the employer holds the copyright. Only the copyright owner has the right to decide when and how the work is copied. Copyright protection is automatic upon the creation of a work, and applies whether or not a copyright statement appears on the material.

The general rule is that copyright expires 70 years after the death of the author.