A documentary film is, by its nature, a work of non-fiction. It
expresses a set of facts, arranged and portrayed in a particular
way. If a fictional novel is written, based on a documentary film,
is copyright infringed? Put another way, does copyright protect the
"facts" in the documentary?
In the recent Federal Court decision in Maltz v. Witterick, the court considered a
claim of copyright and moral rights infringement by the makers of a
documentary entitled No. 4, Street of Our Lady about the Hamalajowa
family, a real-life family who harboured and saved three Jewish
families during the Second World War in Poland. A writer, inspired
by the documentary, wrote a fictional young adult novel based on
the same real-life experiences of the Hamalajowa family, even going
so far as to use many of the same names, the same storyline and
facts. The book, entitled My Mother's Secret, was published by
Penguin Canada and went on to become a modest success.
