Case information

Intellectual property — Copyright — Moral rights — False claim of authorship — Statutory defence of non-infringement — Whether courts erred in finding no infringement of moral rights — Scope and application of s. 64(2) of the Copyright Act, RSC 1985, c. C-42.

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In 2021, the applicant Mr. French commenced an action against the respondent Legion in the Federal Court claiming infringement of copyright and moral rights. In support of his allegation of infringement of moral rights, Mr. French cited a statement in the Legion Supply Catalogue, which he argued was a false claim of authorship in his work. He argued that the statement infringed his right to be associated with his work as its author or to remain anonymous, as contemplated in subsection 14.1(1) of the Copyright Act, RSC 1985, c. C-42. The Federal Court dismissed the action. It found it unnecessary to decide the question of moral rights infringement because it found that any acts by the Legion that might otherwise have constituted infringement fell within s. 64(2) of the Copyright Act, which provides a defence to infringement by considering the intersection of copyright with industrial design rights. The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. On application of s. 64(2) of the Act, the court determined that for there to be an infringement of moral rights beyond the scope of s. 64(2) as argued by Mr. French, there must be a connection with the copyright; if there is no act in connection with copyright (such as reproduction, for instance), there can be no infringement of moral rights.