Stewart House Publishing Inc. (Re)

Court of Appeal for Ontario

Date: 2003-04-04

Docket: CA C39731

Counsel: Peter E.J. Wells for Respondent/Appellant in Appeal, Egmont Books Limited

Before: McMurtry C.J.O.

[1] The appellant Egmont suggests that it has copyright and trade-mark rights in the books and therefore is entitled to an order preventing the trustee from selling them and is entitled to recover those books from the Interim Receiver.

[2] The short answer is that the Copyright Act has no application in this case as there has been no infringement of its provisions. There has been no reproduction or publication of Egmont books that would infringe copyright. Therefore there is no issue of constitutional paramountcy and the P.P.S.A. applies. Consequently, the respondent is entitled to sell the books pursuant to Farley J.'s order approving the liquidation plan. The Appeal is therefore dismissed. There will be no costs related to the motion extending the time for the filing of the Appeal. The Respondent is entitled to its costs fixed in the amount of $8000.

Appeal dismissed.