You Own the Code, But Do You Own the Copyright? What Every Tech Company Needs to Know

Here's a scenario that plays out in Canadian tech companies every week: a founder hires a freelance developer to build their platform, the developer delivers great code, then the relationship ends, and the founder discovers the copyright in that code may not belong to the company at all.

Copyright in Software: The Canadian Basics

Under the Canadian Copyright Act, copyright in original works, including software code, databases, website content, and technical documentation, arises automatically upon creation. No registration is required. But automatic copyright comes with a catch - it belongs to the author, not necessarily to the person who paid for it.

Employees vs Contractors

Copyright in work created by an employee in the course of employment generally belongs to the employer. Copyright in work created by an independent contractor, however, belongs to the contractor, unless a written agreement says otherwise.

Why Register Anyway?

While copyright registration in Canada is optional, it creates a public record of your ownership and provides important evidentiary advantages in litigation. For tech companies building valuable codebases, databases, or AI training datasets, registration is a low-cost, high-value step.

Open Source: A Word of Caution

Incorporating open-source components into commercial software without understanding the applicable licence terms, such as GPL, MIT, Apache, and others, can expose your company to unexpected IP obligations, including requirements to disclose your proprietary source code. Canadian tech companies operating in regulated industries need to be especially careful here.

Is your work product burning for Copyright Registration?

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Just like you, we use tech to enhance our outputs. Any AI-contributions were reviewed by a registered Canadian patent agent.