Fair Dealing Under the Canadian Copyright Act
1
FAIRDEALINGUNDERTHECANADIANCOPYRIGHTACT
LaurentCarrière*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.
Lawyers,PatentandTrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
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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.
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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
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