Fair Dealing Under the Canadian Copyright Act

1
FAIRDEALINGUNDERTHECANADIANCOPYRIGHTACT

LaurentCarrière*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.
Lawyers,PatentandTrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria–BlocE–8thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.(514)9876242–Fax(514)8457874
www.robic.ca–info@robic.com

TheCanadianCopyrightAct(R.S.C.1985,c.C-42)containsnumerous
exceptionstotheexclusiverightsofcopyrightowners,amongstwhicharethe
“fairdealing”provisionsofsections29,29.1and29.2.
Section29establishesthatanyfairdealingwithanyworkforthepurposesofi)
researchorii)privatestudydoesnotconstituteinfringement.Section29.1
establishesthat,undercertaincircumstances,anyfairdealingforthe
purposesofi)criticismorii)reviewdoesn’tinfringecopyright.Inorderfor
theseexceptionstobeapplicable,somespecificelementsmustbe
mentioned.Dependingonthecircumstances,thoseelementsarethe
following:thesourceandthenameoftheauthor,theperformer,themaker
orthebroadcaster.Finally,section29.2statesthatfairdealingforthepurpose
ofnewsreportingdoesnotinfringecopyrightifthesameelements(s.29.1)are
mentioned.Thesefivecategoriesareexhaustive.
Fairdealingdoesnotdependupontheconsentorauthorizationoftheowner
ofthecopyright.Therefore,itconstitutesadefensetoaninfringementaction,
eventhoughthebehaviordemonstratesalltheelementsofinfringement.The
fairdealingexceptionsallowonetoescapeliabilityinthespecific
circumstancesenumeratedbytheActifthedealinginquestionwasinfact
fair
FairdealingisnotdefinedintheCopyrightAct.Whetheradefendant’s
dealingwithaworkfallsintooneofthefiveaforesaidcategories(i.e.,private
study,research,criticism,reviewornewsreporting),andwhetheritis”fair”,is
lefttojudicialinterpretation,uponthefactsofeachcase.However,because
oftheabsenceofaconcretedefinitionoffairdealing,thistaskcouldbevery
tediousforacourt.

CIPS,2000.
*OfLEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.,amultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,andpatentand
trademarkagents.PublishedintheSummer2000issue(Vol.4,No.3)issueofourNewsletter.
Publication068.030E.

2
Thecourtshavedeterminedthatthefactorsrelevanttodeterminingthe
fairnessofthedealingincludei)thelengthoftheexcerptswhichhavebeen
appropriatedfromthework(objectivefactor),ii)therelativeimportanceof
theexcerptsinrelationtothecritic’sorjournalist’sowncomments(subjective
factor),iii)theusemadeoftheworkandiv)thenatureoftheuse,beit
criticism,revieworsummary.Asamatterofinterest,theAmericanlegislation
setsoutatitssection107alistofdeterminedfactorstotakeintoconsideration
intheassessmentofthefairnessoftheuse,whichfacilitateitsinterpretation
anditsdefinition.

Forthefairdealingexceptiontocomeintooperation,thecourtmustfirst
determinethataninfringingactivityoccured.Then,theonusofshowingthat
theactivityfallsunderthestatedexceptionswillfalluponthedefendant.
Finally,asfairdealingisaderogationtothegeneralprincipleofstatutory
protectionofcopyright,suchanexceptionwillbeinterpretedrestrictively.
Forinstance,the”privatestudy”exceptionwillnotincludetheappropriation
ofaworkforgeneraleducationalpurposesorforusebystudents.Moreover,
theCopyrightActallowsfortheuseofexcerptsofaworkofwhichthe
researcherorthewriterisnotthecopyrightowner.But,theActwillnotpermit
thepublicationofthoseexcerptswiththeresultsoftheresearchortheprivate
study.
Fairdealingforpurposeof”review”willrequireasaminimumsomedealing
withtheworkotherthansimplycondensingitintoanabbreviatedversionand
reproducingitundertheauthor’sname.
Thefairdealingdefenseinmattersofcriticismisavailablewhencriticizing
eithertheworkoritssubjectmatter:onecanreproduce,forexample,
excerptsfromthewritingsofanauthorinordertocriticizebothhispoor
masteryoftheEnglishlanguageandthemoronicviewswhicharethesubject
ofthework…Thefactthatapartfromcriticismtherecouldbeanother
purpose(forinstance,education),willnotdepriveadefendantfromthis
defense,althoughitwouldappearthatasubstantialmeasureofcriticismis
necessaryandnotmerelyincidental:criticismmustremainthemainpurpose.
Contrarytothesituationinothercountries,theUnitedStatesforinstance,
parodyisnot,assuch,consideredasaformofcriticisminCanada.
TheCanadianconceptof”fairdealing”shouldbedistinguishedfromthe
Americanconceptof”fairuse”asthelatterexpressionisbroaderinscope
andtheformerrestrictedtothepurposesmentionnedintheCopyrightAct.

3
InitiallypublishedaspartoftheWorldsurveyoffairuseandfairdealingat
(1995),54ManagingIntellectualProperty40andsubsequentlyupdatedto
takeintoaccountthenewprovisionsoftheCanadianCopyrightAct.

4
ROBIC,ungrouped’avocatsetd’agentsdebrevetsetdemarquesde
commercevouédepuis1892àlaprotectionetàlavalorisationdela
propriétéintellectuelledanstouslesdomaines:brevets,dessinsindustrielset
modèlesutilitaires;marquesdecommerce,marquesdecertificationet
appellationsd’origine;droitsd’auteur,propriétélittéraireetartistique,droits
voisinsetdel’artisteinterprète;informatique,logicielsetcircuitsintégrés;
biotechnologies,pharmaceutiquesetobtentionsvégétales;secretsde
commerce,know-howetconcurrence;licences,franchisesettransfertsde
technologies;commerceélectronique,distributionetdroitdesaffaires;
marquage,publicitéetétiquetage;poursuite,litigeetarbitrage;vérification
diligenteetaudit;etce,tantauCanadaqu’ailleursdanslemonde.La
maîtrisedesintangibles.ROBIC,agroupoflawyersandofpatentand
trademarkagentsdedicatedsince1892totheprotectionandthe
valorizationofallfieldsofintellectualproperty:patents,industrialdesignsand
utilitypatents;trademarks,certificationmarksandindicationsoforigin;
copyrightandentertainmentlaw,artistsandperformers,neighbouringrights;
computer,softwareandintegratedcircuits;biotechnologies,
pharmaceuticalsandplantbreeders;tradesecrets,know-how,competition
andanti-trust;licensing,franchisingandtechnologytransfers;e-commerce,
distributionandbusinesslaw;marketing,publicityandlabelling;prosecution
litigationandarbitration;duediligence;inCanadaandthroughouttheworld.
Ideaslivehere.
COPYRIGHTER
IDEASLIVEHERE
ILATOUTDEMÊMEFALLUL’INVENTER!
LAMAÎTRISEDESINTANGIBLES
LEGERROBICRICHARD
NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
PATENTER
R
ROBIC
ROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
ROBIC++++
ROBIC+LAW+BUSINESS+SCIENCE+ART
THETRADEMARKERGROUP
TRADEMARKER
VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDELA
PLANÈTE
YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOURIDEASTO
THEWORLD