OTTAWA—Yar! There be a new party on the high seas of Canadian politics.

The Pirate Party of Canada can now run buccaneers in the next federal election.

Canada's chief electoral officer, Marc Mayrand, granted the Pirates official party status on April 12.

They'll officially join the 19 other registered parties as long as they field at least one candidate in the next election.

Parties that want to run in federal elections must be registered with Elections Canada.

Being registered means the Pirates can issue tax receipts for political contributions, and they need to report their finances to the elections watchdog.

The Pirate Party wants to make it legal to copy songs, books, movies and artwork for private, non-commercial use.

The Pirate Party was founded last June. It's modelled after Sweden's Pirate Party, the country's third-largest party, which won a seat in last year's European Parliament elections.

“We need a world ... where artists and inventors are free to create without the chains of mismanagement and executive privilege,” says a statement on the Canadian party's website.

“We need to foster technological development in all fields of everyday life, in an open manner. We need to bring focus to the privacy of the individual while shedding light on the work that government does so that we can avoid hidden laws and treaties that attack Canadians.”

Pirate Party Leader Jake Daynes wasn't immediately available to comment.

The Pirates will join other, lesser-known registered parties such as the Marijuana Party, the Rhinoceros Party, the Work Less Party and the Animal Alliance Environment Voters Party of Canada.