Keywords
Canadian copyright law, fair dealing, case comment, CCH
Abstract
The Supreme Court of Canada’s unanimous decision in CCH Canadian Ltd. et. al. v. Law Society of Upper Canada marks a second recent decision by the Court that has major implications for the development of copyright law in Canada. In Théberge v. Galerie D’Art du Petit Champlain, the majority of the Court provided a significant articulation of the balance to be struck between the rights of creators and the rights of users of copyright-protected works. In doing so, it embraced an approach to copyright typical of U.S. copyright law in its heyday. The unanimous Court in CCH Canadian makes it clear that Théberge was not an isolated case; in an area of law where Parliament has been strongly lobbied to restrict users’ rights, the Court seems poised to take an interpretive approach that places limits on the scope of the rights of owners of copyright. In CCH Canadian, the Court does this on a number of fronts. The decision sets a new standard for originality in Canadian copyright law, reigns in the scope of certain acts of infringement in the technological context, and signals an open and expansive approach to interpreting the fair dealing defences.
Recommended Citation
Teresa Scassa, "Recalibrating Copyright Law?: A Comment on the Supreme Court of Canada's Decision in CCH Canadian Limited et al. v. Law Society of Upper Canada" (2004) 3:2 CJLT.
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