addressing Copyright default in Canada

As most of you likely know, Canadian law differs from the laws of most other countries (in particular the U.S.) in at least one important respect: If I photograph for a third party (and they pay me, of course), they by default have copyright over those photos.

How can one address this via a contract so that the photographer retains copyright of the photos ? Is a line simply stating "The Photographer retains copyright to all photos contracted" as well as an articulation of what usage rights are given to the client--is this sufficient ? Is there a boilerplate line that accomplishes what I need ?

I understand that one ought to have all contracts inspected by a lawyer.

any Canadian POTN members who hold onto their copyright ?

I'd like to know also, sorry, I'm not aware, but I might be able to call up one of my father's friends in the province legislature and see if he can look into it.

Very good question - you may wish to contact the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and inquire with them (www.cipo.ic.gc.ca), however I'm thinking that if you have a proper legal document drafted that assigns copyright back to the creator (in this case, you), and your client agrees to that, that may be all the legal documentation you would require.

@snapshot photos: that would be great.

@craig: thanks for the link. I'm still hoping to get an example of how in practice a canadian photographer introduces this clause, though. Perhaps more will chime in.

The news I got back was that I should talk to a lawyer and see how to make it totally sealed and 100% loophole-free. My mom's cousin is a lawyer and I'll be seeing her over the christmas break, if we don't have an answer by then I'll get one.

Thanks a lot James. There's at least a suggestion of what one needs to do about halfway down this page: http://www.capic.org/c​opyright.html , but i'm still looking forward to more definitive answers.

I believe it's usually best to keep it as simple and direct as possible, so would think that all you need to to is include in your contracts and model releases the phrase "photographer retains all copyright ownership and all rights to all images made in the course of fulfilling this agreement, unless otherwise specified in writing by the photographer".

That's not a bad phrase for anyone anywhere to include in all their agreements, even if working somewhere it's automatic for the photographer to retain ownership, just to clarify and avoid any possible issues.

But I'm not in Canada, either.

I'm not in Canada either, but I'm curious to see how working Canadian photographers are actually wording their contracts to make this more palatable...or do they simply not bother and not worry about it?

Here is what I have in my contract
"IMAGES and COPYRIGHTS: The ownership- the copyright - of the photographs shall remain with the .......( my company). Upon final payment by the client, the client has limited copyright ownership of the resulting images which may be used only for personal use and may be copied or reprinted without express permission of ...... The owner may make prints for personal use, but may not copy, or distribute the disk in any manner. The Client must obtain written permission from, and compensate .......... prior to the CLIENT or its friends and relatives publishing or selling the photographs for profit."

^That's interesting. I thought that copyright and usage were distinct rights. You describe the client as having some kind of (limited) copyright ownership ? I would have thought that one ought to maintain full copyright over photos but give usage rights (and only usage rights) to the client. This is a fine distinction (what I'm saying and what you say), but these are contracts after all !

Thanks a lot for the sample.

I should perhaps post the clause I have in my contract (updated language slightly as per link posted above).

1.Copyright and Usage
— Copyright in all works associated with this assignment shall be owned by the Photographer
— Upon full payment the Client obtains usage rights of all photos returned (henceforth PHOTOS) and may print, adjust for print, duplicate and publish to the web, the PHOTOS, in perpetuity
— The Client may not, without consent from the Photographer, sell or use for commercial purposes any of the PHOTOS, nor can they extend these rights to a third party

Christopher Steven b wrote in post #11342284
^That's interesting. I thought that copyright and usage were distinct rights. You describe the client as having some kind of (limited) copyright ownership ? I would have thought that one ought to maintain full copyright over photos but give usage rights (and only usage rights) to the client. This is a fine distinction (what I'm saying and what you say), but these are contracts after all !

Thanks a lot for the sample.

This is true. Joint ownership of copyright naturally applies when the two parties are truly equal co-authors of a work. It's not impossible to write a contract that establishes joint copyright ownership, but can wind up a pretty messy legal proposition.

You want to provide a "license" to "use" the works in certain specified ways. You don't even want to use the word "right" because a "right" is not "licensed." A "right" is inalienable, so you don't want to get involved with that particular word either. "License" and "usage" are the words you want to use.

SnapShot Photos wrote in post #11328130
The news I got back was that I should talk to a lawyer and see how to make it totally sealed and 100% loophole-free. My mom's cousin is a lawyer and I'll be seeing her over the christmas break, if we don't have an answer by then I'll get one.

nice thanks for doing some work i was going to do

Christopher Steven b wrote in post #11294730
If I photograph for a third party (and they pay me, of course), they by default have copyright over those photos.

I think you need to clearly define the relationships of the parties involved.
If you are employee by a newspaper, they give you the equipment and send you on assignment. They they own copyright of the photos.

If a third party hires to shoot an ad. Then in your contract with the third party you clearly state who owns the copyright (you the photographer) and they are buying a license to use the images from the shoot. Of course they have the option buy those rights outright as well.

This is my understanding and have not had an issue. Don't shoot until you discuss copyright and put it in your contract.