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Action for copyright infringement dismissed for failure to prove author's residency in a treaty country.
The plaintiff, a photographic syndication agency, brought an action against the defendant for copyright infringement of six photographs of Jennifer Lopez.
The action proceeded by simplified procedure.
The court ruled that the plaintiff failed to prove that copyright subsisted in the photographs under the Copyright Act, as there was insufficient evidence establishing the author's ordinary residence or citizenship in a treaty country at the time the works were created.
Furthermore, although the defendant reproduced the photographs on its website, the court found no real and substantial connection to Canada.
The action was dismissed with costs.
Appeal of Prothonotary's order striking defence pleadings without leave to amend allowed in part.
The defendant appealed an order of a Prothonotary that struck portions of its statement of defence without leave to amend and permitted the plaintiff to amend its statement of claim to remove 'www.' from a domain name.
The Federal Court allowed the appeal in part, finding the Prothonotary erred in striking the defence paragraphs without leave to amend, as the defendant's allegations about the plaintiff's pre-litigation conduct and its counsel's actions were relevant under s. 38.1(5)(b) of the Copyright Act.
The Court upheld the amendment to the statement of claim.
