Motion to appeal a prothonotary's copyright infringement decision dismissed; fair dealing defense rejected.
The moving party, Trend Hunter Inc., appealed a prothonotary's order finding it liable for copyright infringement for using the respondent's photographs without authorization.
The Federal Court reviewed the prothonotary's determinations on copyright ownership, the applicability of the 'news reporting' fair dealing exception, and the overall fairness of the dealing.
Applying the palpable and overriding error standard, the Court found no basis to interfere with the prothonotary's findings that the dealing was commercial, the news reporting requirements were not met, and the dealing was not fair.
The motion and appeal were dismissed with costs.
