The Profits of Criminal Notoriety Act

The Profits of Criminal Notoriety Act prevents persons who are charged with or convicted of a designated crime from financially profiting from the crime by selling their memoirs or by selling memorabilia, such as autographs, personal objects, or items related to a crime.

"Designated crimes" include :

• indictable offences under the Criminal Code (Canada):
  • for which the maximum penalty is imprisonment for five years or more; and
  • that involve the use or attempted use of violence; or
  • that involve conduct that endangers or is likely to endanger the life or safety of another person; or
  • that inflict or is likely to inflict severe psychological damage on that person;
• child pornography; and
• sexual offences.

The Act does not prevent anyone from publishing or recounting their crime, but it prevents them from making money from their story. It also forbids a person's "agent" (usually relatives or official representatives) from profiting.

The money seized under the Act will be used to compensate Saskatchewan victims of specific crimes or their families, and to support victims of crime in general.

The Act does not apply where a crime is recounted for law enforcement purposes or in support of crime prevention or victims services programs. Instead, it applies only to a contract for the recounting of a crime if the crime was:

• committed in Saskatchewan; or
• committed outside of Saskatchewan, if the payment under the contract is made to or by a resident of Saskatchewan or to a person serving a sentence of imprisonment in a correctional facility located in Saskatchewan.

A person who has been charged or convicted must provide a copy of the contract, and any money paid or payable under the contract, to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General. Failure to do this is an offence under the Act. The Minister may file a certificate with the Court of Queen's Bench setting out the amount owing. In addition, the Minister may apply to the Court for an order directing a person to comply with the Act. Either or both of these judgments could then be enforced as judgments of the Court and filed in other provinces if the person or the money is out of Saskatchewan. Failure to comply with a Court order is enforceable through contempt of court proceedings.