Bill S-16
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3rd Session, 37th Parliament,
52-53 Elizabeth II, 2004
senate of canada
BILL S-16
An Act to amend the Copyright Act
R.S., c. C-42
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
1. Section 10 of the Copyright Act is repealed.
2. Subsection 13(2) of the Act is repealed.
Application of former section 10
3. Subject to section 4, section 10 of the Copyright Act, as that section read immediately before the coming into force of this Act, continues to apply in respect of photographs made before the coming into force of this Act.
Term of copyright for unexpired terms
4. (1) Where the term of copyright protection for a photograph referred to in section 3 has not expired before the day on which this Act comes into force, the term for which copyright subsists in the photograph shall be the term set out in section 6 of the Copyright Act and, for the purposes of calculating that term, the author of the photograph is deemed to be the natural person who would have qualified as the author except for the application of subsection 10(2) of the Copyright Act as it read immediately before the coming into force of this Act.
Non-application
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in circumstances where its application would shorten the term for which copyright subsists in a photograph.
Application of former subsection 13(2)
5. Subsection 13(2) of the Copyright Act, as that subsection read immediately before the coming into force of this Act, continues to apply, in the circumstances described in that subsection, in respect of engravings, photographs and portraits ordered before that time, whether made before or after that time.
Coming into force
6. This Act comes into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.
Published under authority of the Senate of Canada
Explanatory Notes
Copyright Act
Clause 1: Section 10 reads as follows:
10. (1) Where the owner referred to in subsection (2) is a corporation, the term for which copyright subsists in a photograph shall be the remainder of the year of the making of the initial negative or plate from which the photograph was derived or, if there is no negative or plate, of the initial photograph, plus a period of fifty years.
(1.1) Where the owner is a corporation, the majority of the voting shares of which are owned by a natural person who would have qualified as the author of the photograph except for subsection (2), the term of copyright is the term set out in section 6.
(2) The person who
(a) was the owner of the initial negative or other plate at the time when that negative or other plate was made, or
(b) was the owner of the initial photograph at the time when that photograph was made, where there was no negative or other plate,
is deemed to be the author of the photograph and, where that owner is a body corporate, the body corporate is deemed for the purposes of this Act to be ordinarily resident in a treaty country if it has established a place of business therein.
Clause 2: Subsection 13(2) reads as follows:
(2) Where, in the case of an engraving, photograph or portrait, the plate or other original was ordered by some other person and was made for valuable consideration, and the consideration was paid, in pursuance of that order, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, the person by whom the plate or other original was ordered shall be the first owner of the copyright.