Someone Used Your Music in Canada Without Permission — Here's What the Law Says
You wrote the song. You recorded it. And now it's playing in someone else's video, TV show, or AI-generated track — without your knowledge, without your permission, and without payment. This happens to Canadian musicians more often than it should. Here is what your rights actually are.
Canadian copyright law protects musicians and songwriters automatically — from the moment a song is created. You do not need to register it. You do not need to put a copyright symbol on it. The protection exists. What most musicians do not know is exactly what that protection covers, what organizations exist to enforce it on their behalf, and what they can do when someone violates it.
What Copyright Protects in Music
When you create a song in Canada, you actually hold two separate copyrights — and understanding the difference matters.
The composition is the song itself: the melody, the chord progression, the lyrics, and the arrangement. The composer and the lyricist own this copyright. If you wrote the music and the words, both belong to you.
The master recording is the specific recorded version of that song — the actual audio file, the production, the performance captured in the studio. The copyright in the master recording typically belongs to whoever financed and produced the recording — often a record label, but increasingly independent artists who self-produce.
Both copyrights can exist simultaneously on the same song, and they can be owned by different people. If a TV producer wants to use your song in a show, they need two separate licenses: one from whoever owns the composition, and one from whoever owns the master. Using either one without permission is infringement.
What Counts as Infringement
Under the Canadian Copyright Act, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to:
Reproduce the work (copy it, sample it, use it in another recording)
Perform the work publicly (play it in a venue, on TV, in a commercial, at an event)
Communicate the work to the public (stream it online, broadcast it)
License the work to others
Anyone who does any of these things without the copyright owner's permission is infringing. The fact that the use was short, or that they gave credit, or that they didn't make money from it, does not automatically make it legal. Each of these arguments comes up in disputes — and none of them are automatic defenses under Canadian law.
The Three Organizations That Collect for You
Most Canadian musicians are not chasing down every unauthorized use of their music themselves. Three organizations do it collectively — but only if you are registered with them.
SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) collects performance royalties. Every time your song is played on radio, television, in a bar or restaurant, at a live event, or streamed online in Canada, SOCAN collects a fee and distributes it to the rights holders. If your music has been used on Canadian TV or a Canadian streaming platform without a license, SOCAN is the organization handling that licensing on your behalf — but only if you are a member.
Re:Sound collects neighboring rights royalties. These are different from composition royalties — they belong to the performers and producers of the actual recording. When a radio station plays your recorded version of a song, Re:Sound collects for the performance, independent of what SOCAN collects for the composition. Many Canadian musicians are entitled to Re:Sound royalties and do not know it.
CMRRA (Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency) handles mechanical rights — the right to reproduce a musical composition in a recording. When another artist records a cover of your song, or when your music is reproduced in a video game, on a CD, or through a streaming service, CMRRA administers the license and collects the fees.
If you are a musician or songwriter who has not registered with these organizations, you may be leaving significant money on the table — and giving up your ability to enforce your rights through the most efficient channels available.
TV Used Your Music Without Permission
This is one of the most common situations musicians encounter. A song appears in a television commercial, a documentary, a TV show, or a YouTube channel run by a broadcaster — and no one asked.
In Canada, television broadcasters are required to hold SOCAN licenses that cover the music they broadcast. When a production uses a song without clearing it properly, the problem usually lives in one of two places: the production company did not get a sync license (the license to pair your music with visual content), or they got a license but used the music beyond what the license covered.
A sync license is separate from a performance license. SOCAN handles performance. Sync licenses are negotiated directly with the rights holder — meaning you, or your publisher. No collecting society administers sync licenses in Canada. If a broadcaster or production company wants to use your song in a show, they need to come to you (or your publisher) for the sync license, and they need SOCAN's license for the broadcast. Both are required. Both are your leverage.
If your music appeared on TV without your permission and without a sync license, you have grounds for a legal claim. The value of an unauthorized sync license is not zero — it is whatever you would have charged for it.
YouTube and Online Platforms
YouTube operates its own system called Content ID, which scans uploaded videos against a database of registered audio. If your music is in that database and someone uploads a video using your track, Content ID can automatically claim the ad revenue from that video and redirect it to you.
But Content ID is not a legal right — it is a platform tool. It requires registration, it has gaps, and it can be disputed by uploaders. It is not a substitute for understanding your copyright, and it does not address uses outside YouTube.
For unauthorized use on other platforms — TikTok, Instagram Reels, podcasts, streaming services — the process is different. SOCAN and Re:Sound have licensing agreements with major platforms, which means some royalties flow automatically. But when a platform has no agreement with these organizations, or when your music is used in a way that is not covered by existing licenses, you may need to pursue the claim directly.
In all of these situations, documenting the unauthorized use is the first step. Screenshot the post, note the date, save the URL, and download a copy if possible. Evidence that disappears when an infringer takes content down can be difficult to reconstruct.
AI Tools and Your Music — A Developing Area
In September 2026, SOCAN filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against Suno, an AI music generation tool, alleging that Suno copied songs from its repertoire — including well-known Canadian tracks — to train its model and generate outputs, without permission and without payment. The case identified at least 150 instances where Suno's outputs replicated protected works.
This case is significant for every Canadian musician. It signals that the same legal framework that protects your music from human infringers also applies to AI tools that use your recordings as training data or generate outputs that reproduce your work.
AI and music copyright in Canada is an unsettled area. The Copyright Act has not been updated specifically for generative AI. Bill C-27, which would have introduced Canada's first AI legislation, died in January 2025. The SOCAN v. Suno case may be the first major test of how Canadian courts apply existing copyright law to AI music generation.
What this means for musicians right now: if an AI tool has generated music that sounds substantially like your work, or if your recordings were used to train an AI system without your consent, you may have grounds for a claim. This is exactly the kind of situation where getting legal advice early costs significantly less than waiting until the harm compounds.
If Your Music Was Used in Iran and You Now Live in Canada
This question comes up specifically for Iranian musicians who have immigrated to Canada. The answer depends on two things: whether Iran is a signatory to the relevant international copyright treaties, and whether the specific work meets the requirements for protection under Canadian law.
Canada is a member of the Berne Convention, which extends copyright protection to works from other member countries automatically. Iran is also a Berne Convention member, which means works created by Iranian citizens in Iran are generally entitled to protection under Canadian law — subject to the same rules that apply to Canadian works.
However, a 2024 Federal Court case found that certain Iranian works at the centre of a Canadian IPTV dispute were not protected under Canadian copyright law, on the basis that the parties failed to establish the conditions for protection. The outcome of that case turned on the specific facts — it does not mean Iranian works are categorically unprotected in Canada. But it does illustrate that the question is not automatic, and that establishing the conditions for protection matters when enforcement is the goal.
If you created music in Iran, immigrated to Canada, and want to understand your rights here — or if your music is being used without permission by Canadian platforms or individuals — a consultation can clarify your specific situation.
What to Do If Your Music Was Used Without Permission
The steps are practical and they matter:
Document everything first. Before you contact anyone, gather your evidence. Screenshots, URLs, dates, video or audio recordings of the unauthorized use. Once an infringer is alerted, content sometimes disappears.
Identify who owns what. Do you own the composition? The master recording? Both? Is there a publisher involved? The answer determines who has the right to pursue the claim and what the claim covers.
Register with SOCAN and Re:Sound if you have not already. It will not fix what happened in the past, but it positions you for future enforcement and ensures you are collecting what you are owed going forward.
Consider a formal notice. A demand letter from a lawyer requesting immediate takedown and compensation for unauthorized use resolves many situations without litigation. It also establishes a formal record if the matter escalates.
Know what you are entitled to. Unauthorized use of your music has a value — at minimum, the license fee you would have charged. In some cases, where the infringement was willful, additional damages are available. You are not required to accept zero.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my music need to be registered to be protected by copyright in Canada? No. Copyright in Canada is automatic from the moment an original work is created. Registration is voluntary but provides advantages in legal proceedings — it creates a public record and shifts the burden of proof in disputes. If you want to register, CIPO (the Canadian Intellectual Property Office) maintains a voluntary copyright register.
If a YouTube video uses my song, who do I contact? Start with a Content ID claim through YouTube's rights management system if your music is registered there. For more serious or recurring infringement, a formal legal notice to the channel owner or platform is the next step. SOCAN may also have a licensing arrangement that covers the use — check with them whether the platform is licensed and whether you are registered as a member.
Does giving credit count as permission? No. Credit and permission are separate things. Crediting the original artist does not create a license. Using someone's music with a credit line in the description does not make the use legal.
What is a sync license and do I need to give one? A sync license is the permission to combine music with visual content — a film, a TV show, a commercial, a YouTube video, a social media reel. No one in Canada can legally pair your music with video content without a sync license from the composition rights holder. You have the right to negotiate the terms and the fee. You are not obligated to grant one, and you can set your own price.
Can an AI tool legally use my music? This is currently being litigated in Canada. SOCAN filed suit against Suno in September 2026 for using songs from its repertoire without permission to train an AI model and generate outputs. The legal outcome is pending. Under current Canadian copyright law, using a protected work to train an AI system or to generate substantially similar outputs without permission is likely infringing — but how courts will apply this in practice is still being determined.
I am an Iranian musician living in Canada. Does Canadian copyright law protect the music I made in Iran? Generally yes — Canada and Iran are both Berne Convention members, which extends reciprocal copyright protection to works from member countries. However, establishing the conditions for protection matters in enforcement situations. A 2024 Federal Court case found that certain Iranian works were not protected on the specific facts of that case. If you want to enforce your rights in Canada for music created in Iran, a legal consultation to assess your specific situation is recommended.
What is the difference between SOCAN and Re:Sound? SOCAN collects performance royalties for composers and publishers — the people who wrote the song. Re:Sound collects neighboring rights royalties for performers and producers — the people who performed and recorded it. Both rights can exist in the same piece of music and belong to different people. Many musicians are entitled to both and only register with one.
How long does copyright protection last in Canada? For musical compositions, copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 50 years. After that period, the work enters the public domain. The master recording has a separate term. These terms mean that music recorded by living artists, or artists who died within the last 50 years, is almost certainly still protected.
اگر موسیقیدان، ترانهسرا یا خوانندهای هستید که در کانادا فعالیت میکنید — چه موسیقی شما در تلویزیون، یوتیوب یا یک ابزار هوش مصنوعی بدون اجازه استفاده شده باشد، چه بخواهید حقوق آثارتان را بهتر بشناسید — فرزان فالحپور وکیل دادگستری مجاز در بریتیش کلمبیا و انتاریوست و مشاوره به زبان فارسی, فرانسوی و انگلیسی ارائه میدهد.
Farzan Fallahpour is a Barrister and Solicitor licensed in British Columbia and Ontario, with an LL.M. in Canadian Common Law from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. Farzan Fallah Law provides IP and entertainment legal services for Canadian musicians, creators, and digital entrepreneurs.
This article is for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your situation, book a consultation.
© Farzan Fallah Law Corporation | farzanfallahlaw.com
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