Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42)

Non-commercial User-generated Content

Marginal note:Non-commercial user-generated content

• 29.21 (1) It is not an infringement of copyright for an individual to use an existing work or other subject-matter or copy of one, which has been published or otherwise made available to the public, in the creation of a new work or other subject-matter in which copyright subsists and for the individual — or, with the individual’s authorization, a member of their household — to use the new work or other subject-matter or to authorize an intermediary to disseminate it, if

  • (a) the use of, or the authorization to disseminate, the new work or other subject-matter is done solely for non-commercial purposes;

  • (b) the source — and, if given in the source, the name of the author, performer, maker or broadcaster — of the existing work or other subject-matter or copy of it are mentioned, if it is reasonable in the circumstances to do so;

  • (c) the individual had reasonable grounds to believe that the existing work or other subject-matter or copy of it, as the case may be, was not infringing copyright; and

  • (d) the use of, or the authorization to disseminate, the new work or other subject-matter does not have a substantial adverse effect, financial or otherwise, on the exploitation or potential exploitation of the existing work or other subject-matter — or copy of it — or on an existing or potential market for it, including that the new work or other subject-matter is not a substitute for the existing one.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (2) The following definitions apply in subsection (1).

  “intermediary”

  « intermédiaire »

  “intermediary” means a person or entity who regularly provides space or means for works or other subject-matter to be enjoyed by the public.

  “use”

  « utiliser »

  “use” means to do anything that by this Act the owner of the copyright has the sole right to do, other than the right to authorize anything.

Reproduction for Private Purposes

Marginal note:Reproduction for private purposes

• 29.22 (1) It is not an infringement of copyright for an individual to reproduce a work or other subject-matter or any substantial part of a work or other subject-matter if

  • (a) the copy of the work or other subject-matter from which the reproduction is made is not an infringing copy;

  • (b) the individual legally obtained the copy of the work or other subject-matter from which the reproduction is made, other than by borrowing it or renting it, and owns or is authorized to use the medium or device on which it is reproduced;

  • (c) the individual, in order to make the reproduction, did not circumvent, as defined in section 41, a technological protection measure, as defined in that section, or cause one to be circumvented;

  • (d) the individual does not give the reproduction away; and

  • (e) the reproduction is used only for the individual’s private purposes.

• Meaning of “medium or device”

  (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), a “medium or device” includes digital memory in which a work or subject-matter may be stored for the purpose of allowing the telecommunication of the work or other subject-matter through the Internet or other digital network.

• Marginal note:Limitation — audio recording medium

  (3) In the case of a work or other subject-matter that is a musical work embodied in a sound recording, a performer’s performance of a musical work embodied in a sound recording or a sound recording in which a musical work or a performer’s performance of a musical work is embodied, subsection (1) does not apply if the reproduction is made onto an audio recording medium as defined in section 79.

• Marginal note:Limitation — destruction of reproductions

  (4) Subsection (1) does not apply if the individual gives away, rents or sells the copy of the work or other subject-matter from which the reproduction is made without first destroying all reproductions of that copy that the individual has made under that subsection.