Copyright guide

Copyright basics - Ideas, facts and originality

Ideas and facts are not protected by copyright. Only works that are original and fixed are protected by copyright. A work is "fixed" when it is produced onto any media, like paper or within a digital file. A work is considered "original" when it is the product of the author's own skill, judgment and creativity, has not been copied and demonstrates more than a trivial, mechanical level of skill and judgment.

For instance, statistical data on the Montreal population is not protected, but a table presenting these data in a specific way may be.