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Canadian Ct. Rules On Freelancer Copyrights

Posted by timothy on from the what's-implied-and-what's-necessary dept.

Paul Starrson writes "A Canadian court has issued an important new decision on the rights of freelancers to be compensated for their work when it appears in a newspapers' database. This case, Robertson v. Thompson Corp., sounds much like the U.S. Tasini case that the U.S. Supreme Court decided several years ago. In this commentary on the case, it appears that the court provided a strong affirmation of the need for balance in Canadian copyright law but foreshadows a future battle over database rights in Canada."

2 of 6 comments (clear)

  1. Google Print by delta_avi_delta · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As I understand this, it is necessary in the US (and now Canada) to secure the right to hold an authors' work in a database. Where does this leave ventures like Google Print? Is it necessary for Google to secure rights to the work they store, if they are not in the public domain?

    1. Re:Google Print by jordandeamattson · · Score: 3, Informative

      Hi Delta -

      That is exactly what it means.

      You will notice that Google Print (and A9) have worked to secure the rights to put copyrighted materials in their databases.

      Yours,

      Jordan