COPYRIGHT, Canadian. The double re lation of C,anada, as at the same time a self governing nation, and also a part of the British Empire, produces some slight complications in its copyright law. By the British North Amer ica Act of 1865, constituting the Dominion, the power of copyright legislation was assigned to the Federal authority. The Canadian Parlia ment passed a Domestic Copyright Act in 1875, revised it in 11386 and amended it in 1889 by an act which was suspended by the Imperial Parlia ment, pending discussion of the protection of British authors. Finally in 1895 a Canadian act satisfactory to both British authors and the Canadian printers and publishers was agreed on and passed. The Imperial Copyright Act of 1842 applies generally to Canada, subject to the present Canadian legislation. The British Copy right Act of 1911 applies only to such of the Dominions as adopt it by legislative enactment, and this has not been done in Canada. The importation of foreign reprints of British copy right works was formerly permitted on payment of a 12Y2 per cent royalty duty collected through the Canadian Customs, but since this has been dropped from the tariff, it has been held (re Morang vs. Publishers' Syndicate, 32 Ont. Rep.) that the prohibition of such importation con tained in the Imperial Act applies once more to Canada in favor of the properly registered British copyright holder. The point is not, how ever, free from dispute.
The difficulties have chiefly arisen from the importation into Canada from the United States of reprints of British works sold at low prices, and which it has been practically almost im possible to restrain. When these were so im ported by American publishers under agreement with the British author, the Canadian printer and publisher saw themselves constantly de prived of business which they considered should be theirs, as no reciprocity was permitted them by the United States. Their mouthpiece was the Canadian Copyright Association and their agitation was continuous. The refusal of the United States to enter the Bem Convention was an important incident in the history of the trouble, although more recent United States legislation protects the British author to a cer tain extent. The Canadian author also has found it necessary to watch copyright legisla tion and raise some complaints. At present any author domiciled in the Empire, or in any country having an international copyright treaty with the United Kingdom, may obtain copyright in Canada for 28 years (renewable for 14 years by the author, his widow or children) of any book, map, chart, musical composition or any original painting, drawing, statue, sculpture or photograph, any print or engraving of an origi nal design, or any translation of a literary work; but no exclusive right can be obtained to illustrate a piece of scenery or an object. The
work must be printed and published, reprinted and republished or ,produced or reproduced in Canada. The copynght lapses with the expira tion of foreign copyright British copyrighted worlcs may be copyrighted when printed and published, or reprinted or republished in Canada, and may also be imported notwithstanding Canadian copyright. Works published in sep arate articles of a periodical may be temporarily copyrighted but the complete work must also be registered when published. Anonymous works may be registered in the publisher s name. The registration is granted on delivery of three copies of the work at the Department of Agri culture (Copyright Branch), Ottawa, imme diately on publication in Canada, and the issued work is to bear copyright notice in due form. A copy must also be sent to the Library of Parliament, Ottawa, and one to the British Museum, London. An interim copyright may be obtained, but becomes void unless the work is printed in Canada within one .month after first publication elsewhere. All communications are addressed to ((The Minister of Agriculture (Copyright Branch), Ottawa? from whom co,pies of the act and regulations may be ob tained on request.
Any publication of an original manuscript without consent of author or proprietor entrains liability for damages, unless the work be already printed in Canada or elsewhere. If the copy right edition is out of print the minister may, after a complaint made to the proprietor, and his neglecting to provide a remedy, grant li censes to others to publish, and inay fix the royalty.
Foreign magazines and newspapers, contain ing British copyright works, may be imported. if the publication is with the author's consent, or under the copyright law of the country from which they come. Volumes of collections con taining in part literary matter or music copy righted in Canada cannot be imported except from the United Kingdom.