This paper examines the historical basis of copyright protection in the ideas of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and of how this was misunderstood by hippie and punk notions of liberty in the 1960s and 1980s. It then examines the rise of appropriation as a dominant, recent artistic prectice, and of how this affects the application of the 1988 amendments to the Copyright Act, and the work of artists who appropriate. The Copyright Board and its powers are discussed briefly. The paper then looks at the question of the moral and economic rights of artists and copyright holders, and of how those rights can be trensferred, and under what conditions. A discussion of the existence of several visual art copyright bodies in Canada follows, along with descriptions of their relationships, aims, and constituencies. The misgivings of art dealers and public art gallery directors about the increased protection to artists of the amendments to the Copyright Act are examined. The conclusion consists of the author's support for the new legislation, along with a statement about the responsibility of artists, and of the inference of artistic responsibility suggested by recent criticism of the amendments to the Copyright Act.