A reporter-researcher interviews two or more subjects in Canada for an
English-radio documentary.
The interview is recorded on standard analog audio tape in 2004. 
The interview is edited for time, keeping 80% of it, dropping mostly
preamble and some fluff at the end and transcribed to CD in 2005.

The objective is for the content creator/owner to have All Rights Reserved.
There appears to be three forms of the interview.
1) the original "live event" which was never broadcast.
2) the analog rendering of the dialog (audio only;no video in case it matters)
3) the abridged digital derivation of the analog

Does the Canadian law require separate copyrights for items 1,2, and 3
or does it only require a single copyright for item 1 that includes
all derivations?

Since the live event was in 2004 and the item 3 derivation was created
in a different year (2005) does that affect how Canadian copyright law
is applied?

If the content creator/owner had a bigger budget and used video
equipment would that change the Answer?

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Clarification of Question by grthumongous-ga on 23 Apr 2005 11:38 PDT

Is the question clear enough?

Since the CD is a reproduction of a substantial part of the work, it
is automatically covered by the copyright applied to the interview
when it was recorded to audiotape.  The interview was fixed when it
was recorded to audiotape, so 2004 will start the clock ticking on the
copyright term.  Because both video and sound recording copyright
terms are based upon the remainder of the year in which they were
created plus 50 years, there is no effect imparted by the recording
medium.  However, performers in a video have specific rights under the
Copyright Act that they waive if they grant permission for their
performance to be recorded via cinematography or if they have
otherwise entered into a contract governing the use of their
performance.

I have provided a number of references below to provide further information.

Sincerely,

Wonko

"One very significant right granted to the owner of Canadian copyright
in a work, is the exclusive right to reproduce the work, (or any
substantial part of the work) in any material form whatever."

"Each work in which copyright subsists should be marked with a notice
in the following form: "© Smith and Company, 1996". That is, the
notice should display the copyright symbol ©, followed by the name of
the owner of copyright, followed by the year in which the work was
published. This notice is to be displayed in such manner and location
as to give reasonable notice of a claim of copyright in the work.

Copyright may be registered in Canada at the Canadian Copyright Office
located in Ottawa/Hull. While registration of copyright in a work is
not required in Canada, registration does provide benefits to the
copyright owner, and is recommended.

When registering copyright in Canada, there is no need to file a copy
of the work with the Canadian Copyright Office (in fact, the Canadian
Copyright Office will return any works which anyone attempts to file
with them!). It is therefore possible to obtain a copyright
registration in Canada without having to disclose any of the
confidential information which may be contained in the work (although
you will have to disclose the work's title)."

"Copyright Law in Canada" by Philip B. Kerr, Bowley Kerr Collins
(1996-2002) http://www.trytel.com/~pbkerr/copyright.html

Other good introductions to Canadian Copyright Law can be found at:
"Copyright Law" Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic,
University of Ottawa (January 19, 2005)
http://www.cippic.ca/en/faqs-resources/copyright-law/ and "Canadian
Copyright Act-Overview" Media Awareness Network (2005)
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/legislation/canadian_law/federal/copyright_act/cdn_copyright_ov.cfm.

Relevant sections from the Copyright Act:

"'sound recording' means a recording, fixed in any material form,
consisting of sounds, whether or not of a performance of a work, but
excludes any soundtrack of a cinematographic work where it accompanies
the cinematographic work;"

"11.1 Except for cinematographic works in which the arrangement or
acting form or the combination of incidents represented give the work
a dramatic character, copyright in a cinematographic work or a
compilation of cinematographic works shall subsist

(a) for the remainder of the calendar year of the first publication of
the cinematographic work or of the compilation, and for a period of
fifty years following the end of that calendar year; or

(b) if the cinematographic work or compilation is not published before
the expiration of fifty years following the end of the calendar year
of its making, for the remainder of that calendar year and for a
period of fifty years following the end of that calendar year."

"18.  (1) Subject to subsection (2), the maker of a sound recording
has a copyright in the sound recording, consisting of the sole right
to do the following in relation to the sound recording or any
substantial part thereof:

(a) to publish it for the first time,
(b) to reproduce it in any material form, and
(c) to rent it out,

and to authorize any such acts."

"23. (1) Subject to this Act, the rights conferred by sections 15, 18
and 21 terminate fifty years after the end of the calendar year in
which...
(b) in the case of a sound recording, the first fixation occurred."

"Copyright Act" Copyright Board Canada
http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33225

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Request for Answer Clarification by grthumongous-ga on 28 Apr 2005 10:41 PDT

Hi wonko,
so if I understand correctly, does one copyright object (1) --the live event
or does one copyright object (2) -- the analog sound recording and all
its digital derivations?

If one has to copyright (1) then how does one characterize it, as a
"dramatic work"?
If one has to copyright (2) then one would of course characterize it
as a "Sound Recording"? which would include *all* its derivations.


Please confirm.

---

Clarification of Answer by wonko-ga on 01 May 2005 15:21 PDT

As I understand it, the "live performance" is not copyright until it
is "fixed" by being recorded in some fashion, including production of
a transcript.  Your interview, once recorded onto audiotape, is then
copyright in that form as a "sound recording" and in all of its
subsequent versions, regardless of the media on which they are
recorded.

It is inherently copyrighted provided that each copy of the work is
marked with a copyright notice.  However, you can optionally register
the copyright with the Canadian Copyright Office as well.

Sincerely,

Wonko

thanks.