Copyright infringement – Quebec court confirms exception of fair dealing in news reporting context

2008-01-01

C
OPYRIGHTINFRINGEMENT-QUEBECCOURTCONFIRMSEXCEPTIONOF
FAIRDEALINGINNEWSREPORTINGCONTEXT

LAURENTCARRIÈREANDIANAALEXOVA*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,
LLP
L
AWYERS,ANDPATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS
InCliniquedelectureetd’écrituredeLaMauricieinc.v.GroupeTVAinc.,[2008
QCCQ4097],theQuebecCourtdismissedplaintiff’sclaimfor$7000indamagesfor
theunlawfulairingofitspublicityfootage.
Initsaction,Cliniquedelectureetd©écrituredeLaMauricieinc.(hereinafter
Clinique)allegedthatthedefendant,GroupeTVAinc.(hereinafterTVA),useda
videorecordingwithoutpermission
.InMarchof2005,defendantairedanewsstory
regardingtheplaintiff,duringwhich,elevensecondsofpictorialfootageoriginating
fromdefendant’spublicitywereused.Insupportofitsclaim,plaintiffproducedtwo
videotapescontainingthetelevisedpublicitythatitusuallyutilizesandpartsof
whichwereshownbythedefendant.Plaintiffsustainsthattheairingoftheimages
wasillegal,sinceitwasdonewithoutanyformofconsent,hence,therequested
compensation.
Asforthedefendant,itsubmittedthattheuseoftherecordingwaslegalsinceitwas
doneinthecontextofapublicnewsreportandthatithascommittednofaultthat
couldresultinanysortofliabilityonitsbehalf.Tothateffect,defendantreferredto
sections29through29.2oftheCopyrightAct,whichdealwithfairdealing
exceptionsforthepurposeofcriticismorreviewandnewsreporting.
ItwastheCourt’sopinionthatthecaseatsteakshouldbeexaminedinlightof
section29.2oftheCopyrightAct,pertainingtofairdealingforthepurposeofnews
reporting.Consequently,afterviewingthesubmittedfootage,theJudgeconcluded
thatTVAactedwithinthescopeofsaidlegalprovisionsandthattheworkin
questionwasfairlyused.
Infact,accordingtoJudgeDeMichele,inorderfortheplaintifftowinitscase,ithad
toprovethatCliniquedidnotfallunderoneoftheexceptionstocopyright

CIPS,2008.*Lawyerandtrade-markagent,LaurentCarrière,isaseniorpartnerwithLEGERROBICRICHARD,
LLP
amultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,andpatentandtrademarkagents.IanaAlexovaisanarticling
studentwiththefirm.PublishedinaJuly2008issueofWorldMediaLawReport.Publication
328.050.

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infringement,particularly,fairdealing.Therefore,tobeheldliable,Cliniquewould
havetohaveusedplaintiff’swork“unfairly”.
TheCourtrefusedtodeemsaiduseasbeing“unfair”notablyseenthatitoccurredin
thecourseofanewsreport,asenactedinsection29.2oftheCopyrightAct.No
modificationsweredonetoClinique’spublicityotherthanthepartialuseofsame
andtherefore,noviolationwasrecognised.Plaintifffailedtoshowthattheairingin
questionwasnotwithinthedefinitionoffairdealingincompliancewiththe
aforementionedapplicablelegalprovision.
Ultimately,plaintiffdidnotmeetitsburdeninthepresentcaseregardingthealleged
“unfair”use,nordiditprovethatthedefendanthadcommittedanyfaultwhatsoever.
Thus,itsclaimwasdismissed.

3
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