Union européenne

Canada

Droit d'auteur et droits connexes

4. Do copyright owners in the subject matter of broadcasts have the exclusive right to rebroadcast by wireless means of broadcasts, as well as the communication to the public of television broadcasts of the same? In particular, do copyright owners have the exclusive right to communicate to the public by telecommunication any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work if the communication is a retransmission of a local signal, the retransmission is lawful under the Broadcasting Act, and the signal is retransmitted simultaneously and in its entirety? If not, is any remuneration required to be paid to the owners of the copyrights of the local signals that are retransmitted (Article 9(1) of the TRIPS Agreement in conjunction with Article 11bis(1)(ii) of the Berne Convention)?

Under the Copyright Act, the simultaneous retransmission of local signals is not an infringement of copyright in the works carried in the original broadcast. Like many other countries, Canada does not provide copyright protection for the simultaneous retransmission of local signals which, by definition, are already available to the public via the primary transmission. Therefore, under the Canadian Copyright Act, copyright owners do not have any rights arising from the retransmission of local broadcast signals. The simultaneous retransmission of the entirety of local broadcast signals carrying copyright works does not conflict with the author's normal exploitation of his work and does not unreasonably prejudice his legitimate interests. Under the Canadian Copyright Act, the simultaneous retransmission of distant broadcast signals is not an infringement of the copyright in the works carried in the original broadcast if the retransmitter has paid the applicable royalties and complied with any terms and conditions fixed under the authority of the Copyright Act.