Copyright and Disclaimer

By using this website, you are agreeing to the ‘Terms of Use’ by the World Gem Foundation.

All World Gem Foundation courses are the sole property of Geoffrey M. Dominy and 16300260 Canada Inc. No part of these courses may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, printing / photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the copyright owners (Geoffrey M. Dominy & 16300260 Canada Inc.). The Canadian Copyright Certificate Registration Number is 1247334. All course notes and materials are registered under the 'Career Gemmologist Diploma Program' and include the following:

1. Module One: Basic Gemmology (English, Spanish and French)
2. Module Two: Advanced Gemmology (English, Spanish and French)
3. Module Three: Gem Identification (English, Spanish and French)
4. Module Four: Coloured Gemstones (English, Spanish and French)
5. Module Five: Diamonds (English, Spanish and French)
6. Coloured Gemstone Professional Diploma (Modules One to Four)
7. Diamond Professional Diploma (Module Five)
8. Rubies, Sapphires and Emeralds (English, Spanish and French)
9. Opals and Jade (English, Spanish and French)
10. Organic Gems (English, Spanish and French)
11. Gem Identification #1 (Practical)
12. Gem Identification #2 (Practical)
13. Coloured Gemstone Grading #1 (Practical)
14. Coloured Gemstone Grading #2 (Practical)
15. Lab-created and Treated Gems (Practical)
16. Diamond Grading and Lab-created Diamonds (Practical)
17. Gem Identification Lab Manual
18. Coloured Gemstone Grading Lab Manual
19. Diamond Grading Lab Manual
20. ColourWise Coloured Gemstone Grading System

Any unauthorized use of World Gem Foundation courses or materials constitutes a felony and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Penalties and Punishment

If a person or business is criminally convicted of pirating or selling educational materials, the punishments outlined in Section 42(2.1) of the Copyright Act include a fine of up to $1,000,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both.

Canadian Copyright Protection

In Canada, copyright protection applies automatically the moment an original work is created and fixed in a tangible form. Saving a literary work to your hard drive, typing it out on paper, or even recording a voice memo instantly secures your copyright—no registration or legal paperwork is required at that moment.

The primary rules governing copyright in Canada outline how this protection works and what it covers:

1. Requirements for Automatic Copyright:

For a literary work to receive automatic protection under the Canadian Copyright Act, it must meet three core conditions:

Fixation: The work cannot just be an idea in your head. It must be ‘fixed’ in a stable medium, such as written on paper, saved digitally, or recorded.

Originality: The work must not be copied from someone else. It must involve a non-trivial exercise of human skill and judgment.

Nationality or Residence: The creator must be a citizen or resident of Canada, or a country that is part of an international copyright treaty (like the Berne Convention).

2. What Copyright Protects (and What It Doesn't):

Protected: The specific expression of your work. This includes books, articles, poems, software code, and blog posts.

Not Protected: Ideas, concepts, factual information, titles, plots, short phrases, or names. Anyone can write a book about a ‘boy wizard,’ but they cannot copy your exact text to do it.

3. How Long It Lasts:

Canada extended its copyright duration to match major international standards. For most original works, copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years after the calendar year of their death. After this period, the work enters the public domain and can be used freely by anyone.

4. Voluntary Registration and the ‘Copyright’ Symbol:

The Copyright Symbol: You do not need to display the 'Copyright' symbol for your work to be protected in Canada, though using it is highly recommended to clearly signal your ownership to others.

Registration: While protection is automatic, you can voluntarily register your copyright with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) for a small fee. Registration gives you a certificate that acts as a legal presumption of ownership in a court of law if someone steals your work.

5. Rights and Exceptions: As the owner, you hold the exclusive right to produce, reproduce, publish, or perform the work. However, Canada features a ’Fair Dealing’ exception. This allows others to use small portions of your work without permission for specific purposes, such as education, research, private study, criticism, review, or news reporting, provided the use is deemed fair by legal standards.