Canadian Lawyer

November/December 2019

The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers

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www.canadianlawyermag.com 9 Make your CPD hours count. There are many options for your CPD. Don't take the first thing that crosses your desk. Choose OsgoodePD and make it count. Explore our upcoming live and on demand programs: osgoodepd.ca/cpd-2019 OSGOODE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION Get what you need before the end of the year: • Relevant programs that work with your schedule, offered online or in person. • Insightful updates on recent developments, one-day conferences, and Certificate programs worth your time. • Sharpen your skills and knowledge with specialized EDI, Professionalism and Substantive CPD hours in your area of practice. and user rights balanced under s. 12. CIPPIC lead counsel Jeremy de Beer, of the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law, Common Law section, said he was pleased to see the court emphasize the importance of a balanced approach to the Copyright Act as a whole. But while the key finding was that the scope of Crown copyright is narrow and that the government doesn't acquire copyright merely by making work available online, "the takeaway . . . is the urgency with which statu- tory reform is now required," de Beer says. pursuant to s. 12 of the Act copyright goes to the province as a result. However, the court found, this Crown copyright provision — enacted in 1921 and not updated since — should be referred back to Parliament. "Ultimately, I think the court narrowed the scope of Section 12 [and] plainly recog- nized the important public interest in making sure that copyright vests in the Crown for those works that serve vital public purposes," says Julie Parla of McCarthy Tétrault LLP, a counsel for the respondent Teranet. The respondent, Teranet Inc., manages the Province of Ontario's electronic land registry system. Documents prepared by land surveyors, such as drawings, maps, charts and plans, are registered in the ELRS. The public can obtain those documents online through Teranet for a fee. Keatley Surveying Ltd. was the repre- sentative plaintiff in a certified class action brought on behalf of land surveyors whose plans of survey were scanned and copied into the respondent's digital database and made available online. It claimed that Teranet was in breach of copyright by reaping profits at the expense of surveyors. In the 7-0 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the decisions of the lower courts. But while the majority found that copyright is vested in the Crown when the Crown exer- cises direction and control over the publi- cation process and over the work itself, the concurring minority found that whether the Crown has enough direction or control over the work itself is not relevant. The Samuelson- Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic inter- vened in the case from a concern to see creator "Section 12 should be rewritten if it continues to exist at all." Kim Nayyer VP, Canadian Association of Law Libraries

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