In Canada the duration of a copyright is 50 years from the death of the artist or author.

Foreign works in Canada are generally also protected for 50 years, if the duration of copyright in the country of origin is 50 or more years.

The US and many European countries offer copyright protection of 70 years, however Canadian works are still only protected for 50 years in those countries. Similarly works that originated in one of these countries will only benefit from copyright protection for 50 years in Canada.

Effectively that means that works still protected by copyright in the US or Europe, may be freely reproduced in Canada. While legal here, reproductions of these works may be subject to confiscation in Europe or the US.

While some arts groups in Canada are pushing the Federal Government to extend copyright protection for a further 20 years to coincide with our European and American counterparts, at V.I.V.A. we believe that this would be counterproductive. While we heartily agree that the arts need to be more of a priority and that artists have had the short end of the ‘economic stick’ for too long, longer posthumous copyright protection for artists does nothing to improve the lot of living artists.

Multinational corporations with intellectual property to protect would like nothing better than to have their interests put forward by groups of artists. Consider though that by one estimate some 15% of all books are in the public domain. However only 10% of all books are still in print, which leaves 75% of all books out of print and abandoned by their publishers, but still protected by copyright.

Extending copyright protection in Canada will not enrich living artists or writers, or even their heirs. It will simply ensure that, after death their works will soon become unavailable, irrelevant and then forgotten.

If you are interested in the lot of visual (and other) artists, you should help us promote their interests during their lifetimes. Check out our innovative tax policy proposals and help us by lending us your support.

Rob Farrow, CGA

Executive Director