Compilation Copyright in Canada

Re: Compilation Copyright in Canada

(please excuse cross posting)

Canada's Federal Court of Appeal on October 27, 1997 has unanimously upheld a 1996 trial decision by Mme Justice McGillis which in turn held that there was no copyright in the compilation of information found in the Yellow Pages(tm) of telephone books. See Tele-Direct v. American Business information, FCA, Oct. 1997, A-553-96 per Decary, J.A. There was an explicit finding that Canadian and American law are essentially the same on the relevant issues and that Feist and Bellsouth are both applicable. Unless this decision is overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada, it would now appear that there is a clear threshold of originality requirement in Canada. Following Feist, "the threshold is low but it does exist". "Sweat of the brow" is no longer determinative.

This is good news for many "users" including libraries, researchers, and those who depend on databases of essentially factual information. It is potentially bad news for law publishers including the Canadian Thomson organization that now owns West and for Canada's telephone monopolies. If US jurisprudence is any clue, there will be effects in other areas such as computer programme protection.

This is bound to influence the debate in Canada with respect to the WIPO database treaty initiative

--
Howard Knopf
Perley-Robertson, Panet, Hill & McDougall
90 Sparks St.
Ottawa, Canada
Phone: 613-566-2820 or
       1-800-2-OTTAWA

E-Mail: knopfh[_at_]perlaw.ca,hknopf[_at_]magmacom.com
WebSite: http://www.perlaw.ca