[dvd-discuss] Key case restores copyright balance

["R. A. Hettinga" <rah(at)shipwright.com> (by way of Arnold G. Reinhold)]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam/20 
020418/TWGEIS




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Key case restores copyright balance



By MICHAEL GEIST


Thursday, April 18, 2002 - Print Edition, Page B16

The view that Canada's copyright law tends to favour content creators may
soon be put to rest in light of a recent Supreme Court copyright decision.

...


The case involved a challenge by Claude Théberge, an internationally-known
Quebec painter, against an art gallery that purchased posters of Mr.
Théberge's work and proceeded to transfer the images found on the posters
from paper to canvass.

The gallery's technology was state of the art -- it used a process that
literally lifted the ink off the poster and transferred it to the canvass.
The gallery did not create any new images or reproductions of the work,
since the poster paper was left blank after the process was complete.

Mr. Théberge was nevertheless outraged -- he believed he had sold paper
posters, not canvass-based reproductions -- and he proceeded to sue in
Quebec court, requesting an injunction to stop the transfers as well as the
seizure of the existing canvass-backed images.

Although the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the seizure, a
divided Supreme Court overturned that decision, finding that the images
were merely transferred from one medium to another and not reproduced
contrary to the Copyright Act.

In reaching its decision, the Court's comments regarding the importance of
maintaining a fair copyright balance are particularly noteworthy.

Writing for the majority of the Court, Justice Ian Binnie stated that "the
proper balance among these and other public policy objectives lies not only
in recognizing the creator's rights but in giving due weight to their
limited nature . . . Once an authorized copy of a work is sold to a member
of the public, it is generally for the purchaser, not the author, to
determine what happens to it."

Justice Binnie then continued to emphasize the dangers of copyright that
veers too far toward copyright creators at the expense of the public. He
noted that "excessive control by holders of copyrights and other forms of
intellectual property may unduly limit the ability of the public domain to
incorporate and embellish creative innovation in the long-term interests of
society as a whole, or create practical obstacles to proper utilization."

...

Supporters of copyright reform have often sought to label their opponents
as thieves looking for free music or pirated movies. With this decision it
would appear that the opponents have been joined by a group not so easily
dismissed: the Supreme Court of Canada.
Michael Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa Law School and
director of e-commerce law at the law firm Goodmans LLP. His Web site is
http://www.lawbytes.com.
mgeist@uottawa.ca
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