The basics
In Canada, copyright comes from the federal Copyright Act. It is automatic. The moment someone writes an article, takes a photo or designs a graphic, they own the copyright. There is nothing to register and no © symbol needed. Registration exists and can help in a dispute, but a work is protected without it.
It also lasts a long time. Since the end of 2022, copyright in Canada generally lasts for the creator’s life plus 70 years. So the safe starting point is simple: if you did not create it, assume someone else owns it.
Photos: where most people get caught
The most common copyright problem on small business websites is photos. Finding an image on Google does not mean you can use it. A photo on someone else’s website, on social media or in a search result still belongs to the person who took it, or to whoever they licensed it to.
This matters because the Copyright Act lets the owner claim set amounts, called statutory damages, without proving how much they lost. For commercial use, which includes a business website, that is $500 to $20,000 per work. If you honestly did not know and had no reason to think you were infringing, a court can reduce that, but not below $200 per work. Large photo agencies know this, and many send demand letters when their images turn up on business sites.
Photos you can use with confidence:
- Your own photos, or ones taken by someone you have paid and who has given you the rights in writing.
- Licensed stock photos, used within the terms of the licence. Keep a copy of the licence or receipt.
- Free stock sites, read their licence rather than assuming, and keep a note of where each image came from.
- Creative Commons images, only if you follow the conditions, which often include crediting the photographer and sometimes no commercial use.
If you do get a demand letter, do not ignore it and do not panic. Take the image down, check whether you have a licence for it, and talk to a lawyer before you pay or reply.
Who owns your website?
This one surprises people. Under Canadian law, the person who creates a work is usually its first owner. If an employee creates something as part of their job, the employer owns it. But a freelancer or web design company is not your employee. Unless your agreement says otherwise in writing, the designer may own the copyright in the design, the custom code, the graphics and even the logo, and you may only have permission to use them.
That usually does not cause problems, until you want to change designers, move hosts or sell your business. The fix is easy if you do it up front: ask for a written assignment of copyright for the custom work, or at least a clear licence that lets you keep using, changing and moving everything. Themes, plugins and stock photos are usually licensed rather than owned, which is normal. Just know which is which. My guide to choosing a web developer in Canada covers what to put in the agreement.
If someone copies your content
Your own articles, photos and page text are protected the same way. If you find someone has copied them, start by contacting the site owner and asking them to remove it. Keep it polite and keep a screenshot. If that goes nowhere, contact the company hosting their website. Most hosts have a process for copyright complaints, and many act quickly on a clear one.
Canada also has a “notice and notice” system. A copyright owner can send a notice to an internet provider, which must pass it on to its customer. It does not force anything to come down, but it does put the person on notice. For serious or repeated copying, that is the point to get legal advice.
You may have heard of “fair dealing.” It allows limited use of other people’s work for purposes such as research, education, criticism, review, news reporting, parody and satire, as long as the use is fair. It is narrower than many people think, and it does not cover using someone’s photo to decorate your business website.
AI-generated content
This is the area that is still unsettled. Canadian copyright has always assumed a human author, and it is not yet clear whether, or how, content produced by AI is protected. The federal government has been consulting on AI and copyright since 2023. Its national AI strategy, released in June 2026, did not settle the copyright question, and in April 2026 a House of Commons committee recommended that AI companies need creators’ consent before training on their work. In the courts, a group of Canadian news publishers is suing OpenAI in Ontario, and the court confirmed in late 2025 that it can hear the case.
In practical terms for your website: you may not be able to stop others copying AI-generated images or text, and AI tools can produce something too close to an existing work. Treat AI as a starting point, put your own work and knowledge into the final version, and check that images are not imitating a recognizable photo, brand or character. I wrote more about this in AI-generated website content.
A simple checklist
- Know where every image on your site came from, and keep the licence or receipt.
- Never use a photo just because you found it on Google or social media.
- Get a written copyright assignment or licence from anyone who builds your site or logo.
- Keep copies and screenshots of your own original content, with dates.
- Use AI as a helper, not as the final author, and review what it produces.
- If a demand letter arrives, take the image down and get advice before paying.
Copyright is really about respect for other people’s work. Treat other people’s photos and words the way you would want your own treated, and you will rarely have a problem.