the Canadian definitions of Copyright.

Understanding copyright—The basics

Although this guide is not a complete text on law regarding copyright, we have designed it as an introduction to copyright and copyright registration.
Protect your valuable creations

A poem, painting, musical score, performer's performance, computer program—all are valuable creations, although perhaps no one can measure their worth. Some works may earn a lot of money in the marketplace, while others earn none at all.

Regardless of their merit or commercial value, Canadian law protects all original creative works, provided the conditions set out in the Copyright Act have been met. This means that if you own the copyright to a poem, song or other original work, you have rights that are protected.

Simply put, the Act prohibits others from copying your work without your permission. Its purpose is to protect copyright owners while promoting creativity and the orderly exchange of ideas.
Copyright defined

In the simplest terms, "copyright" means "the right to copy." In general, copyright means the sole right to produce or reproduce a work or a substantial part of it in any form. It includes the right to perform the work or any substantial part of it or, in the case of a lecture, to deliver it. If the work is unpublished, copyright includes the right to publish the work or any substantial part of it.

Copyright also applies to performers' performances, sound recordings and communication signals, though the applicable rights may differ somewhat. For example, the copyright in a sound recording consists of the sole right to publish the sound recording for the first time, to reproduce it in any material form, to rent it out and to authorize any such acts.

People occasionally confuse copyrights with patents, trademarks, industrial designs and integrated circuit topographies. Like copyright, these others are rights granted for intellectual creativity and are forms of IP. However, there are important differences:

Copyright provides protection for literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works (including computer programs) and other subject-matter known as performer's performances, sound recordings and communication signals.
Patents cover new and useful inventions (product, composition, machine, process) or any new and useful improvement to an existing invention.
Trademarks may be one or a combination of words, sounds or designs used to distinguish the goods or services of one person or organization from those of others.
Industrial designs are the visual features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament, or any combination of these features applied to a finished article.
Integrated circuit topographies are the three-dimensional configurations of electronic circuits embodied in integrated circuit products or layout designs.

What copyright protects

Copyright applies to all original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works provided the conditions set out in the Copyright Act have been met. Each of these general categories covers a wide range of creations, including:

literary works such as books, pamphlets, computer programs and other works consisting of text
dramatic works such as motion picture films, plays, screenplays and scripts
musical works such as compositions with or without words
artistic works such as paintings, drawings, maps, photographs, sculptures and plans

Copyright also applies to other subject-matter consisting of:

performers' performances, meaning any of the following:
a performance of an artistic, dramatic or musical work, whether or not the work was previously recorded and whether or not the work's term of copyright protection has expired
a recitation or reading of a literary work, whether or not the work's term of copyright protection has expired
an improvisation of a dramatic, musical or literary work, whether or not the improvised work is based on a pre-existing work
sound recordings, meaning recordings consisting of sounds, whether or not a performance of a work, but excluding any soundtrack of a cinematographic work where it accompanies the cinematographic work
communication signals, meaning radio waves transmitted through space without any artificial guide, for reception by the public

The conditions for copyright
Works

Copyright applies to every original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work where the author was at the date of the making of the work a citizen or subject of, or a person ordinarily resident in, Canada or some other treaty country. (A treaty country is defined as a Berne Convention country, a Universal Copyright Convention country or a World Trade Organization [WTO] member.)

Copyright also applies when a work is first published in a treaty country even if the author was not a citizen or subject of, or a person ordinarily resident in, Canada or some other treaty country. The Minister may also extend protection to other countries that are not treaty countries by way of notice in the Canada Gazette.
Subject-matter other than works
Performers' performances

Copyright applies to a performer's performance if it takes place in Canada or a Rome Convention country, or if it is embodied in a sound recording whose maker is a citizen or permanent resident of Canada or a Rome Convention country. If the maker of the sound recording is a corporation, it must have its headquarters in Canada or a Rome Convention country.

Copyright also applies if the performance is embodied in a sound recording whose first publication occurred in Canada or a Rome Convention country, or if the performer's performance is transmitted by a communication signal broadcast from Canada or a Rome Convention country by a broadcaster that has its headquarters in the country of broadcast.
Sound recordings

The maker of a sound recording has a copyright in the sound recording if at the date of the first recording the maker is a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, a Berne Convention country, a Rome Convention country or a WTO member. If the maker of the sound recording is a corporation, it must have its headquarters in one of these countries. Copyright also applies if the sound recording is first published in one of those countries.
Communication signals

A broadcaster has a copyright in the communication signal that it broadcasts if it has its headquarters in Canada, in a country that is a WTO member or in a Rome Convention country and broadcasts the communication signal from that country.
Benefits of registration

The Copyright Act states that a certificate of registration of copyright is evidence that copyright exists and that the person registered is the owner of the copyright. However, the Copyright Office is not responsible for policing or checking on registered works and how people use them. It also cannot guarantee that the legitimacy of ownership or the originality of a work will never be questioned.
A lifetime of protection

Generally, copyright lasts for the life of the author, the remainder of the calendar year in which the author dies, and for 50 years following the end of that calendar year. Therefore, protection will expire on December 31 of the 50th year after the author dies.

We discuss a few exceptions below, but other exceptions exist. If you need clarity about the term of copyright in a particular work, you should seek the services of a legal professional knowledgeable in the area of intellectual property.

Registration only gives you proof of ownership of copyright, it makes going after someone for damages easier since you don't need anything else to prove ownership.

edit to add:

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/e...

the financial costs for copyright, in Canada. ( fees )

$50 if you file online, $65 if using hard copy and fax / snail mail / in person.
additional costs for copies of certificates.