Partial Assignment of Copyright

2003-01-01

1
PARTIALASSIGNMENTOFCOPYRIGHT

By
AlexandraSteele
*
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

TheQuebecCourtofAppealrecentlyruledonamatterrelatingtothe
assignmentofcopyrightsbytheheirsofPaul-HervéDesrosiers(“Desrosiers”),
thefounderofRéno-Dépôt,andPierreTurgeon(“Turgeon”),anauthorwho
wascommissionedtowritethebiographyofthedeceased.(Turgeonv.
Michaud,availableinFrenchatwww.jugements.qc.ca).Thefactsofthiscase
areasfollows.
TheDesrosiersheirsandTurgeonenteredintoacontractthatprovidedthat
theheirsreservedtherighttopublish,ornot,themanuscript.Inaddition,
althoughtherewasnospecificclauserelatingtotheownershipofthe
copyright,theoriginalagreementforesawthatTurgeonwastheownerofall
derivativerights,suchastherighttoadapttheworkforcinematicor
theatricalpurposes,etc.TurgeonwasalsogivenaccesstoDesrosiers’
personalfiles,aswellasputincontactwithseveralpeoplewhoknew
DesrosiersandwhocouldsupplyinformationonthelifeandbusinessofRéno-
Dépôt’sfounder,sincetherewasverylittleinformationinthepublicdomain
regardingthebusinessman.
ApublishingagreementwasalsoconcludedbetweentheDesrosiersheirs,
Turgeonandapublishinghouse.Oneoftheclausesinthissecondagreement
foresawtheassignmentbyTurgeontothepublisheroftheformer’scopyright
ownershipinthemanuscript,includingthederivativerights.
Oncethemanuscriptwascompleted,theDesrosiersheirsdecidednotto
publishthebiography,judgingthatthefinalversionwasnotacceptableto
them.Turgeonattemptedtohavethemanuscriptpublishedbyananother
publishinghouse,buttheDesrosiersheirsopposedsaidpublication.Theyfirst
obtainedprovisionalandinterlocutoryinjunctionstotemporarilypreventthe

©LEGERROBICRICHARD,2003
*Lawyer,AlexandraSteeleisamemberofthelawfirmLEGERROBICRICHARD,g.p.andof
thepatentandagencyfirmROBIC,g.p.PublishedintheSeptember2003issueofMontreal
BusinessMagazine.Publication062.003E.

2
manuscriptfrombeingpublishedand,thereafter,theSuperiorCourtof
Quebecgrantedapermanentinjunctionprohibitingthepublication.
TurgeonappealedtheSuperiorCourtdecision.BeforetheCourtofAppeal,
TurgeonarguedthattheTrialJudgehaderroneouslyruledthattheDesrosiers
heirshadtheexclusiverighttoauthorize,ornot,thepublicationofthe
manuscript.Inhisview,theassignmentofpublishingrights,inordertobe
valid,shouldhavebeenexpresslysetoutinwriting,which,healleged,was
notthecase.Turgeonfurtherarguedthattheinitialcontract,bywhichhe
hadbeencommissionedtowritethebiographyofPaul-HervéDesrosiers,did
notforeseeanyobligationforhimtokeeptheinformationhehadgathered
confidentialandconsequently,hewasfreetousethisinformationtopublish
anothermanuscript,withouthavingtosolicittheconsentoftheheirs.
TheCourtofAppealdidnotagreewithTurgeon’sargumentandconfirmed
thedecisionoftheTrialJudge.
TheCourtdecidedthat,inaccordancewiththeprovisionsoftheCanadian
CopyrightAct,theinitialcontractforservicesbetweenTurgeonandthe
Desrosiersheirsforesawtheassignmentoftherightoftheauthortopublishthe
manuscript,i.e.therightwaspassedfromtheauthortotheheirsintheclause
whichstipulatedthattheheirsreservedtherighttodeterminewhetherthe
manuscriptwouldbepublished.TheCourtfurtherruledthattheCanadian
CopyrightActdoesnotrequireanassignmentofpartialcopyrightsbe
explicitlyformulated,butonlythattheassignmentbemadeinwriting.Ifa
conflictarises,thentheCourtmustascertaintheintentionofthepartiesto
determinethescopeoftheassignment.Thereisnorequirementforthe
assignmenttotakeanyparticularforminordertobeconsideredvalid.The
CourtofAppealthereforeinterpretedtheoriginalagreementbetween
TurgeonandtheDesrosiersheirsasprovidingthattheauthorwasthesole
ownerofallcopyrightsinthemanuscript,includingthederivativerights,butto
theexceptionoftherighttopublish,i.e.tomakeaworkaccessibletothe
public.IntheCourt’sview,theassignmentoftherighttopublishaliterary
workconstitutesanassignmentoffuturerights,whichispermittedin
accordancewithSection1374oftheQuebecCivilCode.
TheCourtofAppealalsoconcludedthatTurgeonwasboundbyanimplicit
obligationofconfidentiality.TheCourtnonethelessrestrictedthisobligationto
informationthatwasnotalreadyinthepublicdomain.Turgeonwastherefore
barredfrompublishinganothermanuscriptcontainingtheconfidential
information.
AlthoughtheCanadianCopyrightActonlyrequirespartiestoacopyright
assignmentagreementtosetoutthetransferofrightinwriting,thiscase

3
constitutesareminderthatpartiesshouldtakethetimetoevaluateand
understandthescopeoftheagreementstheyareabouttoenterinto,as
clearandprecisewordingcanultimatelysavemuchtime,effortandmoney
inthefuture.ThiscasetookapproximatelysevenyearstoreachtheCourtof
Appealandintheend,thestoryofPaul-HervéDesrosiersstillremainstobe
told…

ROBIC,ungroupedavocatsetdagentsdebrevetsetdemarquesdecommercevoué
depuis1892àlaprotectionetàlavalorisationdelapropriétéintellectuelledanstousles
domaines:brevets,dessinsindustrielsetmodèlesutilitaires;marquesdecommerce,marques
decertificationetappellationsdorigine;droitsdauteur,propriétélittéraireetartistique,droits
voisinsetdelartisteinterprète;informatique,logicielsetcircuitsintégrés;biotechnologies,
pharmaceutiquesetobtentionsvégétales;secretsdecommerce,know-howetconcurrence;
licences,franchisesettransfertsdetechnologies;commerceélectronique,distributionetdroit
desaffaires;marquage,publicitéetétiquetage;poursuite,litigeetarbitrage;vérification
diligenteetaudit;etce,tantauCanadaquailleursdanslemonde.Lamaîtrisedes
intangibles.
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.Ideaslivehere.

COPYRIGHTER
IDEASLIVEHERE
ILATOUTDEMÊMEFALLULINVENTER!
LAMAÎTRISEDESINTANGIBLES
LEGERROBICRICHARD
NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
PATENTER
R
ROBIC
ROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
ROBIC++++
ROBIC+LAW+BUSINESS+SCIENCE+ART
THETRADEMARKERGROUP
TRADEMARKER
VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDELAPLANÈTE
YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOURIDEASTOTHEWORLD