Canadian Copyright helps to protect Artist by ensuring that their works are prevented from being copied without permission. 

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This means that just by creating a work of art, you are automatically protected under federal law to the rights of that work. No one can copy it, distort it, alter it, or make money off of it, without your permission. For more details click here.

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Copyright is owned by the Artist (with some exceptions) and expires 50 years after the artist dies. After that the work is considered in the "public domain." For more information about the public domain click here.

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The digital age has provided easy access to the ability to copy and reproduce artwork. When artists take images and use them for their own work, without prior permission, they are violating Copyright law. How much of an image can be used for your own work is unclear, as the law is vague and can be interpreted many ways. 

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However,  many artists believe in sharing their work to enhance the creative community, and work can now be labelled under creative commons. CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCING TYPES.

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For the purpose of this class you will be expected to use the settings on your search engine to look for public domain images, or to use a variety of websites that provide access to images for free use.