Federal Court Reviews Notion of Conversion in Copyright Case
COURTREVIEWSNOTIONOF”CONVERSION”INCOPYRIGHTCASE
by
BarryGamache
LEGERROBICRICHARD,Lawyers
ROBIC,Patent&TrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria-BlocE–8
thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.:(514)9876242-Fax:(514)8457874
www.robic.ca-info@robic.com
ArecentdecisionoftheFederalCourtofAppealofCanadahasanalysed
theconceptof”conversion”andhascautionedagainsttheuseofthis
concepttogrant”excessive”damageswheninfringingcopiesarevoluntarily
destroyedbytheinfringerincopyrightcases.LitigationinLesÉditionsJCLInc.
v.91439CanadaLtée.,No.A-174-92,September23,1994,providesthe
backdropfortheCourt’scomments(Note:ThedecisionoftheTrialDivisionof
theFederalCourtwasreviewedinWorldIntellectualPropertyReport,March
1992,vol.6,No.3,p.61).
Respondent91439CanadaLtée,apublishingcompany,wasthecopyright
owneroftwoliteraryworkswhichwerefirstpublishedinOctober1983and
October1985,respectively.MarcelyneClaudais,theauthorofbothworks,
hadassignedhercopyrightstotheplaintiff.AppellantLesÉditionsJCLInc.
(“JCL”)wasthepublisherofaliteraryworkallegedlywrittenin1987byLouise
Denis-Labrie.ThetrialjudgefoundthatDenis-Labriehadinfringeda
“substantialpart”ofthetwoClaudaisworksandissuedvariousordersagainst
theappellant.BeforetheFederalCourtofAppeal,onlythequestionof
damageswasatissueandmoreparticularlytheproceedingsforconversion
oftheinfringingcopieswhichhadbeenallowedbythetrialjudge.
Section38ofCanada’sCopyrightAct(R.S.C.,1985c.C-42)dealswiththe
conceptofconversionandprovidesasfollows:”Allinfringingcopiesofany
workinwhichcopyrightsubsists,orofanysubstantialpartthereof,andall
platesusedorintendedtobeusedfortheproductionoftheinfringingcopies
shallbedeemedtobethepropertyoftheownerofthecopyright,who
accordinglymaytakeproceedingsfortherecoveryofthepossessionthereof
orinrespectoftheconversionthereof”.
Thetrialjudgehadestablishedthattherespondentwasentitledto$51,929.50
inconversiondamageswhichrepresentedtheadmittedretailpriceof$12.95
foreachofthe4010infringingcopiesprintedandbutnotsold;heconcluded
thatthedamagestowhichtherespondentwasentitledaretobe
determined”onthebasisofthefullvalueofthosecopiesatthetimewhen
theplaintiff’scopyrightinrespectofthemwasusurped”.
JCLobjectedtothisconclusion:whileitadmittedthatthesaleof1378copies
oftheinfringingworkdidconstituteconversionwithinthemeaningofSection
38oftheAct,itsubmittedthatthevoluntarydestructionbyitselfof3513
copiesthathadnotbeensolddidnotconstituteconversionundertheAct.
WritingfortheCourtofAppeal,Mr.JusticeDecarywrotethat”[t]he
conversionreferredtoinSection38derivesfromthepresumptionof
ownershipofthecopiesoftheinfringingworkwhichthatsectionmakesin
favouroftheholderofthecopyright.Asthatholderisdeemedtobethe
ownerofthecopies,Section38statesthatheorshemayseektoregain
possessionofthemormaytake”proceedings…inrespectoftheconversion
thereof””.Therefore,theillegalactofconversion(i.e.theintentional
modificationofagood’sidentity)allowsaplaintifftosueforconversion
damages;theassessmentofthesedamagesisthefullvalueoftheinfringing
copyatthetimeofconversion.
Mr.JusticeDecaryhadnotroubleconcludingthatthesalebyJCLofthe1378
reproductionsoftheinfringingcopiesconstitutedconversion.Lessclearwas
thefateofthe3513copies(deemedthecopyrightowner’spropertyunder
Section38)whichhadbeenvoluntarilyrecalledbyJCLandhadbeen
destroyedbyit.Mr.JusticeDecarydistinguishedthecaseofTomHopkins
International,Inc.v.Wall&RedekopRealtyLtd.,(1985),6C.P.R.(3d)475
(B.C.C.A.)whichhadbeenrelieduponbythetrialjudge:conversioninthat
caseappearedtobebasedontheusethathadbeenmadebyaninfringer
ofvideocassettesbeforeerasingthem,asopposedtotheerasingperse.
Mr.JusticeDecarythereforeconcludedthatnoconversiondamagesshould
begrantedforthoseinfringingcopieswhichhadnotbeensoldbutrather
recalledanddestroyedbytheinfringerconsideringthattherewasno
evidenceputforwardbythecopyrightownerastotheuseitcouldhave
madeoftheinfringingcopiesshouldtheyhavebeenreturnedtoit,orwhat
valuetheymighthavehadonthemarketplace.However,Mr.JusticeDecary
confirmedtheplaintiff’srighttoconversiondamagesforthoseinfringing
copieswhichhadactuallybeensold.
TheCourtofAppeal’sdecisionisinterestinginthatitadaptsthenotionof
conversioninthespecificfieldofcopyrightprotection:underCommonLaw,it
isclearthatdestructiongivesrighttoconversion;howeverthisconcept
appearsimpracticalandundulyfavorabletoaplaintiffinacopyrightcase
wheninfringingcopies-deemedthecopyrightowner’sproperty-havenot
beensoldandhavebeenvoluntarilydestroyedbytheinfringer,withoutany
benefittoitorlossforthecopyrightowner.
PublishedunderthetitleFederalCourtReviewsNotionofConversionin
CopyrightCase(1995),9W.I.P.R.6-7.
LEGERROBICRICHARD,1995.
ROBIC,ungrouped’avocatsetd’agentsdebrevetsetdemarquesdecommercevoué
depuis1892àlaprotectionetàlavalorisationdelapropriétéintellectuelledanstousles
domaines:brevets,dessinsindustrielsetmodèlesutilitaires;marquesdecommerce,marques
decertificationetappellationsd’origine;droitsd’auteur,propriétélittéraireetartistique,droits
voisinsetdel’artisteinterprète;informatique,logicielsetcircuitsintégrés;biotechnologies,
pharmaceutiquesetobtentionsvégétales;secretsdecommerce,know-howet
concurrence;licences,franchisesettransfertsdetechnologies;commerceélectronique,
distributionetdroitdesaffaires;marquage,publicitéetétiquetage;poursuite,litigeet
arbitrage;vérificationdiligenteetaudit;etce,tantauCanadaqu’ailleursdanslemonde.La
maîtrisedesintangibles.
ROBIC,agroupoflawyersandofpatentandtrademarkagentsdedicatedsince1892tothe
protectionandthevalorizationofallfieldsofintellectualproperty:patents,industrialdesigns
andutilitypatents;trademarks,certificationmarksandindicationsoforigin;copyrightand
entertainmentlaw,artistsandperformers,neighbouringrights;computer,softwareand
integratedcircuits;biotechnologies,pharmaceuticalsandplantbreeders;tradesecrets,
know-how,competitionandanti-trust;licensing,franchisingandtechnologytransfers;e-
commerce,distributionandbusinesslaw;marketing,publicityandlabelling;prosecution
litigationandarbitration;duediligence;inCanadaandthroughouttheworld.Ideaslive
here.
COPYRIGHTER
IDEASLIVEHERE
ILATOUTDEMÊMEFALLUL’INVENTER!
LAMAÎTRISEDESINTANGIBLES
LEGERROBICRICHARD
NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
PATENTER
R
ROBIC
ROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
ROBIC++++
ROBIC+LAW+BUSINESS+SCIENCE+ART
THETRADEMARKERGROUP
TRADEMARKER
VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDELAPLANÈTE
YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOURIDEASTOTHEWORLD