The respondent composed a song and registered it with a performing rights society.
The appellant television broadcaster broadcasted performances of the song using a prerecorded tape without obtaining the respondent's permission to make the recording, although it paid the required performing rights fees.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that the right to broadcast a performance under the Copyright Act does not include the incidental right to make an ephemeral recording to facilitate the broadcast.
The Court found that the right to perform and the right to record are distinct statutory rights, and the broadcaster's performing rights licence did not imply consent to make the prerecording.
