New Canadian Law Gives Photographers All Copyrights to Images, Commissioned or Not
Victory for Canadian photographers! Photogs now own the rights to all images they take, regardless of if they were commissioned or not. In Canada, all other artists have already owned the copyrights to their work and thanks to this new law, Canadian photographers, albeit the last in the industrialized world, now have all legal rights to their images.
“The Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators (CAPIC) has been working towards this monumental achievement in Canada for more than 20 years through lobbying efforts and could not have achieved this truly important mission without the support of its members, who have contributed financially, morally and offered countless volunteer hours towards this major effort led by CAPIC National Copyright Chair, Andre Cornellier.
The principle of protecting photographers’ ownership rights started 65 years ago by Henri Cartier-Bresson, who founded Magnum with Robert Capa and David Seymour. Magnum assured that a photographer’s image belonged to the photographer and not to the commissioner of the work.
In Canada, all other artists have already owned the copyrights to their work and thanks to this new law, Canadian photographers, albeit the last in the industrialized world, now have all legal rights to their images.
CAPIC has been working towards this monumental achievement in Canada for more than 20 years through lobbying efforts and could not have achieved this truly important mission without the support of its members, who have contributed financially, morally and offered countless volunteer hours towards this major effort led by CAPIC National Copyright Chair, Andre Cornellier.
The Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC) were a valuable partner in this achievement as well as the lobbying firm Temple Scott Associates for their work in Ottawa.
CAPIC will be providing more information on the direct effects of the law for Canadian photographers in the week to come as we celebrate this important Canadian achievement.
For more information:
André Cornellier
Copyright Chair
CAPIC, The Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators
andre@cornellierphoto.com
tel.: 514.933.4000″
