The appeal concerned whether online music previews streamed before purchase are fair dealing for the purpose of research under the Copyright Act.
The Court held that research must be interpreted broadly and assessed from the user perspective, not only from the service provider perspective.
Applying the CCH framework, the Court found the previews fair in purpose, character, amount, alternatives, nature of the work, and market effect.
Because the previews were short, lower quality, temporary, and supported consumer selection without substituting for purchases, no additional royalties were payable for them.
