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Parody Parity? |
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A "fair dealing" protection for satire in Canada
It may come as a surprise that, unlike many other citizens of modern, democratic societies, Canadians that parody an object that is protected by copyright can be taken to court. In the United States, the courts have protected parody as a form of "fair dealing" of a copyrighted object. Similar protections for parody also exist in France and Australia. Canadian copyright law, however, offers no such protection or "fair dealing" use of copyrighted material for the use of parody. In a recent case, CanWest successfully argued this defence against a Simon Fraser University professor who used the Vancouver Sun masthead and other branded materials to produce a mock newspaper criticizing the newspaper's coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Similarly, Michelin has successfully sued labour groups that have parodied the Michelin Man character in protest about the French tire manufacturer's policies towards labour.
Leading legal experts in Canada, including Michael Geist and Howard Knopf, have called for an "fair dealing" exception to Canada's copyright law for the purposes of parody. Cormex supports these efforts and if, by some miracle, a Canadian government finally passes a new copyright law before the 21st century closes, we hope that such a clause is included. While a company has a legitimate right to protect the value invested in its brand and the elements that comprise it, such protection should not extend so far as to cause an infringement of legitimate free speech.
If you would like to learn more about this subject, we encourage you to visit the links below.
Learn more at:
Michael Geist blog: www.michaelgeist.ca
Howard Knopff blog: www.excesscopyright.blogspot.com
Laura J. Murray blog: www.faircopyright.ca
CIPPIC site: www.cippic.ca
Copyright Watch: www.copyrightwatch.ca
Fair Copyright For Canada site: www.faircopyrightforcanada.ca
Fair Copyright For Canada on Facebook: www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6315846683
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