I just came across this document.
https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en/terms-and-conditions/about-copyright
It's also interesting in that there are some factual errors in the document. It hasn't been updated to reflect the increase in copyright term for creators of works that came out of CUSMA. It used to be that the copyright inherent in the work itself lasted for the lifetime of all the creators plus 50 years - that was amended at the end of 2021 to be 75 years.
So any work whose creators all passed away in 1971 or earlier is in the public domain. That includes works by Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, by the way.
However, the original performances of those works mentioned are copyrighted. Performances were copyrighted for a term of 50 years from publication, but that was changed at the end of 2014 to 75 years. So ALL performances published in 1964 and prior are in the public domain.
Performances in 1965 will fall into the public domain in 2040, unless, of course, they change the copyright rules once again.
Sometimes I feel like it's all just racket, particularly when both the writer and the artist are long dead and can't benefit from the royalties anyway. We can't legally air it without paying an entity which had nothing to do with the original recordings in any way shape or form.
@Artisan,
What if the songs by one artist you mention for an example weren't their own songs but covers? Janis Joplin didn't do any that were hers. She was not a songwriter. All her hits were covers of songs written and performed by others.
Also say with Jimi Hendrix you mentioned it's been 50+ years since he died and his songs were written and performed but then in 2025 or any time after he died a singer or band redoes a Hendrix song and now you have a new performance, what happens now? This applies to anything from the past no matter how far back. It could be an infinite time a performance is under copyright. Just by someone else. If I am wrong let me know.
Too complicated! Too much research!
Simpler to pay the fee if streaming or as I understand some sites do it for you for the monthly fee or just go over the air.
So performances (written and performed) in 1950 and have not been rerecorded and/or another hit by someone else after that are public domain now in 2025. But try to find that.
You'd have to go to almost obscurity to find that and impractical to do(my opinion) all this insane research. Where to begin!
Rich has a point, the 75 years should be from the original recording. It just gets too crazy.
@Rich, as for dead people not able to have the royalties the songs are still owned by others and publishing companies. Buddy Holly's catalogue for example is owned by someone.
Paul McCartney for the longest time couldn't perform his own songs in concert he wrote or any Beatles songs that he co-wrote with John(which was most) till he got back ownership of his own songs.
Janis Joplin did write a a few of her songs, Kozmic Blues being one.
It's actually quite simple to determine if something is in the public domain in Canada. It does require research though.
All performances released on record 1964 & prior are in the public domain. That's easy.
For works themselves, you have to first, find who wrote them (music composers, lyrics). That's the hard part. Then check to see if they all lived past 1971. If any of them did, then the work is still copyrighted until at least 2047 (1972 + 75 years, longer the longer the creators lived).
Lots of vintage jazz in the public domain here. Virtually all classical and operas (including classical vocal) recorded and released 1964 & prior, except for modern composers of course.
Lots of popular music as well, particularly from the acoustic era. Still plenty in the electric era (1925+) but the numbers start to thin out.
SOCAN provides a catalogue of copyrighted works which is free to access. The only problem is that it's not always accurate (they err on the side of copyrighted). It is useful, though, to help determine creators.
It is a bit of a racket, imo. How long should a creator or a performer benefit? How long should their heirs benefit?
As to selling ownership, the original copyright term remains in effect, particularly for performances. And creators, at least in Canada, have moral rights that parallel copyright and have the same term. The public domain clock starts ticking once the creator passes away, even if they've sold ownership and no longer receive royalties for the work.
@artisan-radio What happens when you have songwriters that write the songs but don't record their own songs so the performances are all done by others. The writer can die but the performances of those songs can go on and on?
Example, Carole King wrote 200 songs+ that others had hits with and she recorded some of her own songs herself and new performances of Carole King songs could be covered all the time. So even if she dies what about the later performances of the songs? If the writer dies does that mean after 75 years all the later performances of the songs that were recorded after that don't matter? The song is public domain? If the writer hasn't died when does a song become public domain?
I'm not well versed on it, but I think the ASCAP royalties pay the writer of the lyrics/compositions, wheras BMI covers the artist/performance royalties. At least in the US. And then there's still some other subsection of royalties that covers some other aspects involved - forget what it's called. It's not just a single royalty fee, it's multiples.
If a writer writes a song, and they are the only creator, then the song goes into the public domain 75 years after they pass away. So, after that 75 year period, anyone can cover the song without paying royalties.
Performances are different. They are specific recordings of a song. They go into the public domain 75 years after the recording is released.
BMI, Ascap et al are just two sides of the same coin. Artists sign on to one or the other, and then those agencies collect royalties on their behalf.
Sound Exchange is different. They collect royalties from Internet plays; I don't know if they pay the artists directly, or if they go through BMI, Ascap, etc. I would think the latter, but not sure.