Licensing & Rights Management

Here is how the work lines up. Rights clearance for a Canadian production runs through a distinct stack of collecting societies and federal statutes that global producers often underestimate. The Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) governs base rights and statutory damages, with the Copyright Board of Canada arbitrating tariff disputes. Music sync clearance flows through SOCAN for public performance and communication rights, CMRRA for mechanical reproduction, and Re:Sound for sound-recording neighbouring rights — three separate negotiations on a single track, plus master-use direct deals with the labels.

Here is the breakdown. Our clearance coordinators keep working relationships with SOCAN Toronto, CMRRA, Re:Sound, the SODRAC catalogue for Quebec-origin works, and the publishers behind Drake, The Weeknd, Arcade Fire, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Celine Dion, and the Tragically Hip catalog. For Quebec shoots we set up ARRQ, UDA, and AAR (Association des auteurs/auteures de la relève) rights forms in French, with bilingual EN/FR talent-release forms that hold up in both Quebec Superior Court and federal venue.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. Image, location, and likeness rights are layered on top. The privacy regime under PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) shapes how we handle background extras, neighborhood crowd shots, and any documentary footage, with Quebec's Bill 25 imposing tighter consent rules than the federal baseline. Brand and trademark clearance runs through CIPO (Canadian Intellectual Property Office) searches, with E&O insurance underwriters at Front Row, AFM Insurance, Aon Toronto, or Marsh Canada signing off only once chain-of-title, music cue sheets, and clearance schedules are clean.

Here is how the picture comes together. We structure territorial license windows for global sale. North American theatrical, Canadian broadcast carve-outs for CBC/Radio-Canada/Bell Media/Rogers, SVOD windowing for Netflix Canada and Crave, and CAVCO certification needs that mandate Canadian rights retention for tax-credit eligibility. Each clearance file we close ships with a master schedule, person deal memos, and the cue sheets registered to SOCAN and CMRRA before delivery.