If a work does not have a copyright notice (or © symbol), is it protected by copyright?
Answer
Most likely. Copyright protection exists as soon as a work is created.
Under Canadian copyright law, the work does not need to be registered and the symbol © is not required to appear on the work. There may not even be any reference to copyright protection. It is possible for the work to be registered under a voluntary government registration system, such as Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). Other countries have different laws and regulations which govern copyright protection, but most countries offer similar protection in line with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties and conventions.
