On March 8, 2016, Manson J of the Federal Court granted an application by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) seeking relief relating to an alleged copyright infringement by the Respondents in Canada Standard Association v P S Knight Co Ltd, 2016 FC 294.  The Respondents did not deny that their Knight Code is a substantial copy of the 2015 CSA Code.  However, they asserted that no copyright subsisted in the 2015 CSA Code and raised the defence of a licence and fair dealing.  Manson J rejected all of these arguments.

In particular, Manson J found that developing the CSA Code involved significant skill and judgment and that the 2015 CSA Code is an improvement over the previous original work, which also entailed substantial work.  He also held that the Respondents could not rely on fair dealing, stating that “[w]hen 100% of a work is copied, the dealing cannot be fair.”

The Respondents have since appealed.

E-TIPS® ISSUE

16 03 23

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