Last month, the Supreme Court of Canada released its
much-anticipated decision in Keatley Surveying Ltd. v Teranet
Inc., 2019 SCC 43.
This was a certified class proceeding on behalf of all land
surveyors in Ontario who registered or deposited plans of survey in
the provincial land registry offices. The surveyors claimed that
the Province of Ontario infringed their copyright in the plans as a
result of licensing agreements between the Province and its
database service provider Teranet.
Following class certification, the parties both moved for
summary judgment on the basis of a common issue, namely, whether
Crown copyright existed in the plans by virtue of section 12 of the
Copyright Act (or whether the surveyors retained copyright
in the plans).
