The Federal Court of Appeal ("FCA")
recently released its judgment in P.S. Knight Co. Ltd. v.
Canadian Standards Association, 2018
FCA 222. The Court examined how the Crown's rights and
privileges apply in the realm of copyright law.
In good news for rights-holders, the majority found that
copyright subsists in a work developed by a private organization,
even when incorporated by reference into statutes and regulations.
However, a strong dissenting opinion argued that the work was a
part of the laws of Canada and therefore subject to Crown
copyright.
It remains to be seen how the law on this subject will develop
going forward.
Background
The case dealt with a claim by the Canadian Standards
Association ("CSA"), a federal
non-profit which develops, tests and certifies voluntary standards,
that P.S. Knight Co. Ltd. ("Knight Co.")
had infringed its copyright over the 2015 CSA Electrical Code (the
"Code"). The Code is a voluntary CSA
document dealing with
