Although not mandatory, registering a copyright in Canada does provide advantages. The certificate is deemed presumptive evidence that the registered owner owns the copyright and that the work is protected under the Copyright Act. Furthermore, a registration gives public notice of an owner's rights and may prevent an innocent infringement defence by unauthorized users of the work. For these reasons, registration certificates are beneficial in litigation proceedings and in warranting ownership of the copyright to prospective licensees of a work.
Regardless of whether copyright is registered, a notice containing the following elements should be placed on all published copies of a work to give public notice of the rights: “Copyright (or ©)
