Moral Rights But Not Copyright

In an epic saga dating back over 40 years and 6 years of litigation, the Quebec Court of Appeal has released a decision which states clearly that an employer is the presumed owner of the copyright to works created by an employee, provided no contractual provision says otherwise.

In 1968,  Laurent Lachance was hired by the Ministry of Education of Quebec as an occasional employee. In 1972, the Director of Audio-Visual Productions asked Lachance to create a French-language educational television series for children which would include 125 educational episodes.  This ultimately resulted in the popular television series "Passe-Partout".  Lachance's employment contract was renewed annually until he became a permanent employee in 1977.  He continued his employment with the Ministry until his retirement in 1993.  Between 1977 and 1998, more than 283 episodes of Passe-Partout shows were produced.