Federal Court of Canada Rules on Copyright Ownership

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FEDERALCOURTOFCANADARULESONCOPYRIGHTOWNERSHIP

AlexandraSteele
LEGERROBICRICHARD,Lawyers
ROBIC,Patent&Trade-MarkAgents
55St-Jacques,Montreal(Quebec)CanadaH2Y3X2
Tel.(514)987-6242-Fax(514)845-7874
E-mail:marion@robic.com–WebSite:www.robic.ca

Inarecentcaseopposingtheexecutorandbeneficiaryofanauthor’sestate
andtheassigneeofthecopyrightinthebooksoftheauthor,theFederal
CourtofCanadawasaskedtoruleontheissueofcopyrightownershipofthe
author’swork.Inordertodecidetheissueatbar,theCourtmorespecifically
addressedthequestionsofreversionaryinterestandtheexpungementofa
copyrightregistration(KelleyEstatev.Roy,2002FCT950,September12,2002,
GibsonJ.).

Thefacts

ThelateThomasP.Kelley(“Kelley”)wasaCanadianauthor,whoin1968,
assignedhiscopyrightinandfortwo(2)bookstoSaroyFilmProductionof
CanadaLtd.(“Saroy”)inconsiderationofaonetimepayment.The
assignmentincludedpublicationrights,aswellasmotionpicturerights.Saroy
thereafterapproachedFireflyBooksLimited(“Firefly”)topublishanddistribute
theKelleybooks.SeveralyearsafterKelleypassedaway,theexecutorand
beneficiaryofhisestate,TheresiaWinkler(“Winkler”)attemptedtoascertain
thescopeoftheassignmenttoSaroyinordertodetermineifroyaltieswere
duetotheKelleyEstate.WinklerwrotetoFireflyaskingittoceaseanddesist
frompublishinganddistributingtheKelleybookspendingtheoutcomeofthe
litigationandFireflycomplied.Winkleralsoregisteredhercopyrightinterestin
andfortheKelleybookswiththeCanadianCopyrightOffice.Itwasbrought
toWinkler’sattentionthatPagurianPressLtd.(“Pagurian”),apublisherwho
hadprintedtheKelleybookspriortoFirefly,hadalreadyregistereda
copyrightinterestinandfortheKelleybooks.

Theissuesatbar

TheCourtconsideredandruledonthefollowingissues:

¾Thepassingofthestatutorylimitationperiod

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Pursuanttosubsection41(1)oftheCanadianCopyrightAct,theCourtmay
awardacivilremedyinrelationtoaninfringementifthelegalproceedings
pertainingtheretoareinitiatedwithinthree(3)yearsoftheoccurrenceofthe
infringementorwithinthree(3)yearsfromthetimeapersonfirstknows,or
couldreasonablyhaveknown,oftheinfringement.AccordingtoJustice
Gibson,sinceWinkler’shadknowledgeofanallegedinfringementofKelley’s
copyrightshortlybefore1999,andcommencedlegalproceedingsintheyear
2000,thelegalproceedingshadthereforebeenbroughtwithinthetime
frameprovidedforbylaw.

¾Theexistenceofapriorcopyrightregistration

Pursuanttosubsection55(1)oftheCanadianCopyrightAct(“Act”),
registrationofacopyrightmaybemadeonbehalfofanauthor,theownerof
acopyright,anassigneeorapersontowhomaninterestofthecopyrighthas
beengrantedbylicenseandsubsection53(2)oftheActstatesthata
certificateofregistrationisevidencethatcopyrightssubsists.Subsection57(4)
oftheActprovidesthatanentrymadewronglyontheRegistermaybe
expunged.ThefactsshowedthatPagurian,(thepriorpublisheroftheKelley
books),hadregisteredacopyrightownershipoftheKelleybooksonOctober
15,1974.TheCourtconcludedthat,despitetheexistencecertificateof
registration,Pagurian,hadadducednoevidence,otherthantheregistration
itself,tosupportthefactscontainedinthecertificate.Consequently,the
CourtorderedtheexpungementofPagurian’scopyrightregistration.

¾Theownershipofthecopyright

Section6oftheActprovidesthattheterminwhichcopyrightsubsistsisthelife
oftheauthor,theremainderofthecalendaryearinwhichtheauthordies
andaperiodoffifty(50)yearsfollowingtheendofthatcalendaryear.
Section14oftheActprovidesthatwheretheauthoristhefirstownerofa
work,anyassignmentoftheauthor’sworkisvalidforaperiodoftwenty-five
(25)yearsfromthedeathoftheauthor.Theremainderofthetermofthe
copyrightthenrevertsbacktothefamilyofthedeceasedauthor,thus
enablingthefamilytobenefitfromroyaltiesandotheradvantagesof
copyright.

Fromtheoutset,Winklersubmittedthattheassignmentofcopyrightfrom
KelleytoSaroywasinvalidsinceshewastherightfulassigneeofthecopyright
intheKelleybooksassaidassignmentdevolveddirectlyfromKelley’swill.
JusticeGibsondismissedWinkler’sargument,rulingthatthegeneraltermsof

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Kelley’swillwereinsufficienttoenabletheCourttocometothisconclusion.
Moreover,theCourtruledthateveniftherewasanassignmentofcopyright
fromKelleytoWinklerinKelley’swill,samewasvoidastherewasno“valuable
consideration”,asinequanonconditiontoenablethesuccessfulopposition
ofanassignee’scopyrighttoapriorunpublishedassigneesrightsinandfor
thesamecopyright,thewholepursuanttosubsection57(3)oftheAct.

AsconcernsWinkler’sargumentregardingthereversionaryinterestunder
subsection14(1)oftheAct,JusticeGibsonruledthatareversionaryinterest
wasdevolveduponWinklerastheexecutorandbeneficiaryoftheKelley
Estate.TheCourtconcludedthatsincetheinitialassignmentcopyrightfrom
KelleytoSaroywasvalid,Winklerwouldbenefitfromcopyrightownershipas
oftheyear2007,i.e.twenty-fiveyearsafterKelley’sdeath.

¾Infringement,statutorydamagesandroyalties

GiventheCourt’sfindingsontheissueofownership,JusticeGibson
concludedthatFireflyhadnotinfringedthecopyrightinandfortheKelly
books,asoriginallyclaimedbyWinkler.Inaddition,theCourtruledthat
Winklerwasnotentitledtodamages,statutoryorotherwise,norwasshe
entitledtoroyaltiessinceshewouldonlybenefitfromownershipofthe
copyrightinandfortheKelleybooksasofthe25
thyearanniversaryofthe
author’sdeath.

¾Costs

ItappearedfromthefactualevidenceadducedbeforetheCourtthatSaroy
hadmadeitmostdifficultforWinklertoobtaininformationregardingthe
ownershipofcopyrightoftheKelleybooks.DespitethefactthatWinklerhad
onlypartiallysucceededinherapplicationtotheCourt,JusticeGibson
awardedcostsinherfavourbecauseofSaroy’sconduct.Inaddition,as
Fireflyhadgonetogreatexpenseandtroubleinordertodefenditsinterests,
thatdevolvedfromthoseofSaroy,theCourtalsoawardedcoststoFirefly
againstSaroy.

Thiscaserepresentssomeofthemanyconsiderationsandproblemswhich
mustbeaddressedwhendeterminingtheownershipofcopyrightwhenmany
partiesclaimarighttoit.Copyrightownersmustbemadeawareofthelong
termconsequencesofassigningorlicensingtheirrightstothirdparties.
Lawyersmustensurethatallassignmentsandlicensesoftheirclients’rights

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takeintoconsiderationnotonlythemanyrequirementsoftheCanadian
CopyrightActtogiveimmediateeffecttotheassignmentorlicense,butalso
theirclients’wishesandintentionsforfuturedevolutionoftheownershipofthe
copyright.

©LEGERROBICRICHARD,2003
PublishedintheJanuary2003issueof5-1WorldLicensingLawReport(Vol.5,
no.1,pp.4-5)underthetitleCaseIllustratesConcernsinLong-Term
Assignment,LicensingofCopyright