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Crown Copyright & Licensing

About Copyright

Infringement of Copyright

Consequences

There are consequences for breaking any law. Breaking or infringing the copyright law is no different. The consequences of infringing the copyright law can be “civil” or “criminal”, and are set out in the copyright legislation.

For example, a civil court may decide that money be paid as compensation for damages caused by unauthorized use of a copyright work. This civil remedy is the most common and frequently‑sought type of remedy.

Another type of civil remedy is an injunction to prevent or stop infringing activities. A court has the authority to order the infringing party to account for the profit made from infringing activities and to order that all infringing copies become the property of the copyright owner.

A unique feature of the civil remedy system in the Copyright Act [http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-42/index.html] is a statutory limit on the amount of damages that a court can award to a copyright owner who has not authorized a collective society to license the photocopying of his or her work. Damages are limited to the amount the copyright owner would have received from a collective, either under an agreement or under a tariff set by the Copyright Board of Canada.

Infringement of the Copyright Act can also have “criminal” consequences. These remedies in the Copyright Act involve fines and possible imprisonment. The Act provides for a maximum fine of $1,000,000 where the offence is a serious one. The criminal sections in the Copyright Act are traditionally used to deal with commercial piracy. Examples most frequently encountered are copying videotapes/DVD in order to rent or sell them, and selling or dealing in illegal copies of video games, compact discs, computer programs, or music.