Filming of North of North in Nunavut. The CBC and Netflix co-commission is one example of how Canadian productions can involve multiple broadcasters, production companies and distribution partners.
Photo credit: Jasper Savage / Netflix
An independent Canadian television production company may own copyright in a finished series even when a broadcaster commissions it and a streaming service carries it overseas. Other arrangements give broadcasters, studios or international partners some or all of that ownership. A writer may retain copyright in the scripts while the company producing the episodes controls their commercial use. The answer for any particular show depends on its contracts and on the certification or funding rules that apply.
Broadcast rights, copyright ownership and international sales authority can be divided among several companies. A broadcaster might hold the first Canadian screening window while a distributor negotiates licences abroad. Credits and public announcements may identify some of those roles, but the underlying chain-of-title agreements establish which rights were transferred, retained or licensed.
Where television copyright begins
Canada’s Copyright Act generally makes an author the first copyright owner of a work, with exceptions including works created in the course of employment. It also permits copyright holders to assign or license rights for particular territories, markets, uses and periods. The Act defines the “maker” of a cinematographic work as the person who undertakes the arrangements necessary for its creation. In television, producers commonly assemble the agreements needed to put a series into production, including rights to the scripts and any books, plays or formats on which the program is based.
Those agreements can leave different people or companies holding different rights. A novelist may license screen adaptation rights while retaining copyright in the book. A writer can hold copyright in a script even when the producer controls its use in the series. The company that ultimately owns the completed program may have acquired or licensed the necessary contributions from several parties. Ownership of the show and authority to approve its scripts, budgets or casting can also be addressed in different contracts.
What rights does the writer retain?
The distinction between a script and a finished television program is written into the Writers Guild of Canada’s 2024–2027 Independent Production Agreement with the Canadian Media Producers Association. Article A701 provides that rights negotiated under the agreement are licensed by writers to producers for specified uses and terms, and that the writer’s copyright in script material is not assigned. It expressly distinguishes that copyright from copyright in the finished film or program.
These terms govern work covered by the WGC–CMPA agreement; other writing contracts, employment arrangements and pre-existing rights can produce different results. A creator or showrunner credit identifies a production role without specifying a copyright share. Writers who retain copyright in their scripts may nevertheless have granted producers extensive licences to make and distribute the finished program.
Does the broadcaster own a show it commissions?
A broadcaster may contribute a substantial part of the financing without buying the entire copyright. An independent producer can retain ownership while granting a network the right to premiere the series, carry it for a certain number of years, or offer it exclusively on a specified platform in a particular country. The parties negotiate which rights are available, when a licence begins and ends, and whether reruns, on-demand viewing or later sales require additional agreements.
Broadcasters can also hold copyright interests or act as distributors, depending on the project and the applicable funding and certification rules. The word “commissioned” therefore tells readers who ordered or backed the production; it does not establish who owns every right to it. Even an exclusive streaming arrangement may be limited by geography, time or the kinds of exploitation covered.
Who can sell a Canadian show overseas?
The copyright owner may negotiate international licences directly or appoint a distributor or sales agent to represent the series. A distributor may hold defined exploitation rights and make deals with broadcasters and streamers in different countries. A sales agent may negotiate those deals on behalf of the rights holder. Neither job title, on its own, establishes ownership of the show.
Bell Media described these roles in a December 2023 announcement about its agreement with Jared Keeso and New Metric Media. The company said New Metric handled international distribution for Letterkenny and Shoresy. For projects under the new agreement, Bell Media would serve as distributor and New Metric as exclusive sales agent. Those disclosed roles concern distribution and sales representation; the announcement does not document the full copyright ownership of either existing series.
Children Ruin Everything provides another model. Bell Media has identified Bell Media Distribution as the series’ international rights holder and New Metric Media as its exclusive international sales agent. The CTV comedy was produced by New Metric in association with CTV. Those disclosures show who represented and held international distribution rights; they do not reveal the complete division of copyright ownership among the parties.
What does Netflix Original mean for ownership?
A series branded as a Netflix Original can reach that label through different arrangements. Netflix may commission a production, participate in a co-commission, acquire exclusive streaming rights in particular markets or license an existing program. Its branding and availability on the service do not, by themselves, disclose whether Netflix owns the underlying intellectual property or the finished show.
North of North illustrates the distinction. Netflix announced in March 2024 that the series was co-commissioned by CBC and Netflix in association with APTN, and produced by Red Marrow Media and Northwood Entertainment. That establishes important production and commissioning relationships. Netflix’s announcement did not provide a complete breakdown of copyright shares, so assigning ownership to any one partner would require evidence beyond the public credits.
The same caution applies to international co-productions. Partners may divide copyright, revenue, territories and decisions according to their contracts and, where relevant, official co-production treaties. A foreign company’s financial involvement does not automatically tell readers who may license the series in Canada or abroad.
Why Canadian certification changes the picture
Canadian television producers also have to consider which certification and public financing programs they intend to use. The Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office, known as CAVCO, administers the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. For productions seeking that credit, its rules generally require the Canadian production company or another qualifying prescribed person to hold copyright in the completed production for commercial exploitation purposes throughout a 25-year period. Official treaty co-productions are treated differently. CAVCO also requires the Canadian producer to control the initial licensing of commercial exploitation rights, and examines financing, distribution and chain-of-title agreements to assess compliance.
That tax-credit framework is distinct from the CRTC’s rules for certifying Canadian programs under broadcasting legislation. In November 2025, the CRTC adopted a modernized policy introducing a minimum Canadian copyright share of 20 per cent as part of a new certification framework. Productions with Canadian copyright ownership of between 20 and 50 per cent face stronger Canadian key-creative requirements, including an 80-per-cent threshold under the points system, together with other producer-control conditions. The policy allows Canadian and non-Canadian partners to share ownership in some qualifying productions.
To give effect to the policy, the CRTC published draft regulations in February 2026. They proposed September 1, 2026 as the start date, or the date of registration if later, and said applications received before the regulations took effect would be assessed under the existing framework. The proposed date alone does not establish when final regulations were registered or when the modernized criteria legally took effect. The CRTC’s program-certification framework also remains separate from CAVCO’s tax-credit eligibility rules.
A show can have several rights holders
Consider a hypothetical Canadian drama adapted from a novel. The author licenses adaptation rights to a producer, the screenwriter licenses use of the script, and the production company obtains the rights it needs to make and exploit the finished series. A Canadian broadcaster acquires a first-run licence, while a distributor arranges streaming licences for specified foreign territories. If a partner contributes financing in exchange for an ownership interest, the company may have to negotiate how those interests affect later sales, renewals or spin-offs.
For a particular series, the clearest evidence is its chain of title: agreements granting permission to use underlying books, scripts or formats and contracts establishing copyright in the finished episodes. Production and co-production agreements may divide that copyright, while broadcaster and distribution licences specify where, when and how a program can be shown or sold. Public credits seldom disclose the full arrangement. A claim that a creator, network or streaming service owns a Canadian show therefore requires documentary support or an explicit disclosure by the rights holder.
